ZANESVILLE 

IN THE FLOOD 

0/1913 



BY 

THOMAS W. LEWIS 



PUBLISHED BY A. E. STARR. ZANESVILLE, O. 



.\ ^ D z 



Ijl3 



To those who. during the riood which 

Ml overwhelmed Zanesville in .March. 1913. many 

— C* times put their own lives in peril to save the 

"~* lives of neiglibors and fellow-citizens : and to 

those who, while the tlood lasted and in many 
cases long after, gave abundantly of their sub- 
stance and energy- in order to shelter, sustain 
and restore to tlieir homes Zanesville's flood 
sutterers, this book is dedicated by the author 
and the publisher. 

COPYRIGHT 1913 
By A. E. STARR 



TAJILK UF < ■< )NT]:NTS. 



TAKE 

r,-.fne.. '■' 

l'ul.li^li.-r"s r.-icw-.i-.l • • 11 

Snifkeii. I'-iu N'-r I>islK-;ii:- 1 13 

A KcoonM'.icakiii.i: Kaiiit;ill. ;i \'a>r \\'iiT.-isli.-.l. :i 

y;iiTnw, Cr.M.kr.l ••>>. k" l'"' 

StMI-y nf tll^ rinn.l l-» 

WhiM-f rlic ('nnt'iits Ilau l:i'>r -'» 

fiiiniiuniitorioii < "in nrt -•> 

« 'niuiiuiiiicarioii Kesr<iri-il ■^1 

Fei-tliuu tlie Hniii:ir 34- 

M;iiti:il Law ami tlie Militia ^•* 

Only Two Lives L< >st -^3 

Tw.. Paiiio-Bieediu- Fiie> <;'i 

^lultifaiii.us Freaks nf the Fl.....! OS 

Some OM LaiKlmaiks '1 

j^anug Uncle Sain"s Fleer '3 

'•Never Say I)ie" ' "^ 

Piano and Lilirary Losses ' "^ 

Returning t-' the formal '^" 

Lost Sen?-e of Time and Place SI 

^^oule Good Old Friends '"^3 

Vigilant Officials and Organizations So 

Royal Friends in Time of Ne^d ■'^•^ 

A Word on Flood Prevention ^1 



PREFACE. 

The Citizen "s Relief Association. Avliir-li was organized in the 
city of Zanesnlle during the flood of :March. 1913, decided on the 
31st of the mouth that a hisT''.rv of the event should be written 
and appjoiuted the undersigned to gather the data and prepare the 
story for publication. 

"When the first division of that work began it became unex- 
pectedly difticult to secure accurate information with the desired 
promptness. ^Many of those in a positirai to know mi:»st about 
what had been done toward rescue, relief and property-protectioji 
and most as to when, how and liy whom these had been accom- 
plished, often found it impossible to report the flood events with 
due regard to order and completeness, so great had I'cen their 
mental al:)sni-ption during those terrible hours of suspense and 
sti-uggle and so imperfectly had their written records of those 
liours been kept. 

The process of returning to the normal was a very slow one. 
Iklany days elapsed before residents could get back into regular 
channels. When asked for data requiring time to fornuilate they 
had to postpone making answer, as they had postponed giving at- 
tention to their owii pressing personal affaii'S. Some of the most 
important information contained in this book could not be ob- 
tained in suitable fonn until six weeks after the flood. And when 
the "copy" was ready for the printer it was necessary to vrait 
■ until the printer was ready for the copy. Readers are requested 
to remember all these facts when thev find errors of omission or 



10 Zaxesmi^le IX THE Flood of 1913. 

commission in the body of this story or when inclined to find fault 
with the delay connected with its production. 

A word as to personal mention. Xo doubt it will Ite found 
that some of the most deserving actors in the late drama have 
gone unnamed in these images. Such omissions were inevitable, 
so great was the number of rescuers and relief-givers and so 
meager were the records. Nevertheless, accuracy and complete- 
ness have been constantly sought after in the preparation of 

this book. 

Tho:mas T\'. Lewis. 



PUBLisHER-s FOREWORD. 



In times of dani:er The averaue iiei>"ii lnse> all self-i-ontrril 
niiJ the thought uppernio^T in tht- niiud is self-prest-rvation. When 
thoir is (lauger of (Irowiiiiig the averaae man loses all moral sense. 
He will push aside his dearest friend to save himself, he will 
drap,- down to death the hand whi'-h is outstretched to save him. 

This Ijook has l^een prepared' with this belief and for a two- 
fold purpose ; first, to preserve a record of the greatest flocid that 
ever visited Zanesville: secondly, to honor the brave men who 
risked their li-\"es to save others. With no thought of their own 
.safety, with no" hope of reward, these n<>lile heroes Ijraved every 
danger to give su<-i;or to those in distress. 

'J'herefore. as no i>rovision was n;ade out of any fund with 
which to acknowledge appreciation of their unselfish sa<;riri<:es. the 
happy thought came to the midersigued to publish this history 
and to devote the entire net pror-eeds to the purchase of appro- 
priate valor-m.edals. whi(di will lie presented to all the Zanesville 
]918 tiood heroes of whom we have a record. 

A. E. Stare. 
11 



^1 



. s 



^^ 



I" 



f 






^. <>,■-..--, /f/V 






i ^ 



> 

3 




!-■»'—■' -^z <"' 



STRICKEN BUT N(.)T DISHEARTENED. 



AVhen the costs of the 'A>M were .i-oimted it was found that 
3441 of the city's buildings Lad heen under water. 157 of whicli 
had been entirely swept away, moved from their f(jundatiun<. -•]■ 
\v]-ecked, torn and otherwise heanly damaged. 




mtniitntfrft* 






5 S:Sl 




Main iroiu Set-ouJ t" Canal. Mark the v 
' on V-bridse. Current 



frcui'-t cari carried ir.to Main, and the wrcckaiiv 
■An Second waj v erv fuift 



The loss on these and their contents, including- h<:'useh<)ld 
jjoods, merchandise and manufai-tures. has lu-en estiniated at 
$"2,795,792. The loss by reason of n;ercantile and industrial 
paralysis can never 1)e measured in dollars. The luss ou two 
wagon bridges spanning the ^Muskingmn at Zanesvillc is chai-Qo- 
able to the county. 

13 



14 Zaxesville IX THE Flood of 3913. 

lu additiou, the Pennsylvania Lines lost in Zanesville and 
vicinity by reason of the flood $258,000: the B. & 0.. $495,000. 
This included in each case a bridge at Zanesville. The telephone 
and telegraph companies have spent $75,000 on flood-damage 
repairs. 

The loss of nearly $3,000,000 was a staggering blow to Zanes- 
ville but when the flood was at its crest her people expected to be 
called upon to pay a far heavier bill of costs and to mourn the 
loss of hundreds of their fellow-citizens. AVheu they found that 
but two of these, out of nearly 15.000 in the flood, had l.ieen 
drowned therein they proceeded to measure what had been done 
to save the lives of those thousands and to feed and shelter that 
hungry and homeless multitude. 

It is doubtful if imder similar circumstances there ever was 
a more signal exhilntion of grasp, initiative, promptitude. 
ability and energy than that given by the men and women of 
Zanesville when they took up the work of relief on Wednesday, 
March 26. and prosecuted it day after day and night after night 
against hea^y odds. 

It was Y>vide in those masterful strokes of amelioration that 
caused Zanesville to shake the flood from her garments and move 
on toward greater things. Out of that pride grew the feeling 
that such a record should be preserved. Hence this history. 

"When oittsiders reached Zanesville after measuring condi- 
tions prevailing in Columlms. Hamilton, Dayton and other cities 
overwhehned by the Ohio flood and took account of the rescue 
and relief work that had gone forward in the separated sections 
of Zanesville (gone on almost as well as if conununieatiou had 
not been severed) they spoke of the several organizations re- 
sponsil)le for that work in terms of unciualified admiration and 
praise. 

This confii-mation of Zanesville 's own first impression sent 
her coiu-age and faith up to another level and this inspired all 
the plans afterwards launched on the sea of restoration and 



ZaXExVII.I.E IX THF. Fd lOL' OF 1913. 15 

procrre.ss. plans iuTeii<le.l to put Zauesville iu the Sail Francisco 
auff Galveston class lis a city rktenniiied to turn adversity into 
new presti.ue and greater prosperity. 

A eanipaian to this end was inaugurated April 14. when a 
lar-ie and enthnsiasth: uieeting was held under the auspices of the 
ehanil.er of ci.ninierrp. iu whi.;h leading citizens spoke as a unit 
in favor «>f a f.-rward iur.\-enient along the whole line. 

It was there pointed out that the city's financial eoudition 
justified su'-h a pi-ograni. her duplicate amounting to >-2S.00O.(:mio 
and her del)t to Inu a little o^■er half a niilliou. with a water- 
works plant worth at least twi.-e the del.t. In the light of these 
figures it was felt that Zanesvill^'s loss of less than s3.00n.000 was 
not sufficient to cause a halt in her program of advancement. 

The city council took this view of the matter on May 19 when 
it decided "to build sewers and pave streets ([Main, and seven 
others') ,at an outlay "f ^•2oOSMk Previously to this, the park 
connnission took steps to si)end slo.CtOn in improving the city's 
parks. 



A RECORD-BREAKIXG RAINFALL - A VAST WATER- 
SHED - A NARROAV, CROOKED "NECK.'' 



Rain began falling in tlie valleys drained by the upper Mus- 
kingum's tributaries before noon on Easter Sunday, March 23. 
1913. During the first 12 hours the rainfall amounted to about 
half an inch : during the 24 hours ending the evening of the 24th 
it was especially hea-^-y, measuring at Ashland, for instance. 5.96 
inches. 

For the 24 hours ending on the mnruing of the 25th Richland 
coimty's rainfall measured 5 inches, TTayne's 3.6, Simnnit's 4.S. 
By the morning of the 26th the totals were as follows: Richland 
8.2,_ ^Vayne 7.2, Stark 6.2, Licking 6.4. :\Iuskingmn 5.2. The 
totals for the other counties are omitted. It is sufficient to say 
that during the four days ending March 26 nearly or quite S 
inches of rain fell in the basin drained by the Licking and its 
tiibutaries, by the Muskingiun, above Zanesville. by the TTal- 
houding and the Tuscarawas, which imite to 'form the Mus- 
kingum at Coshocton and by the streams which flow into those 
two affluents. 

Prof. J. "Warren Smith, head of the Y. S. weather Inireau 
at Columbus, states that no such rainfall ever occurred in the 
zone referred to and that the one under discussion reached ground 
already watersoaked. In these facts and not because of any so- 
called cloudbursts lies the explanation of Zanesville 's 1913 flood. 
And Prof. Smith adds the reminder that the Licking river and 
the Muskingum above Zanesville, with their tributaries, drain 
6474 square miles of territory. This is about 15 per cent of 
Ohio's total area. 

Look at the map. Some of the Licking's headwaters rise in 
northern PeiTy and northern Fairfield. . On the west others be- 

16 



ZAyEsvn.T.F. IX the Flood of 1913. 17 

gin at the borders of Delaware and Franklin. Follow the line 
of this Muskingmn-Licking -watershed lakeward. It takes in the 
towns of Shelby and Gallon. Its farthest north is at ^Medina, 
but 25 miles south of Cleveland. Aki'on is just outside of it. 
Near the Carroll-Colimibiana border the ^Muskingmn zone is 
■u-ithin but 15 miles of the Ohio river. In the southeast it ex- 
tends almost to Caldwell. 



Taken from Putnam Hill afternoon of 27th. F!oi:.d ahiiosr at creit. Evidence of exist- 
ence of Mr.ikinaiim Dam (Xo. li'l ha: disappeared. Y-bridge's lamp post; only 
, part of structure in sight. Xote signs of tremendous current across lov.-er 
Main and the Towpath. Fifth Street bridge at right. 

To put it in other terms, this watershed includes a small 
corner of Perry and of Fairfield counties: substantially all of 
Licking; the whole of Knox, Holmes. Tuscarawas. "Wayne and 
Coshocton: nine-tenths of Richland: four-fifths of Ashland and 
of Stark ; one-third of Smnmit : one-sixth of Colmnbiana : nearly 
all of Carroll: nearly half of Morrow. Medina. Harrison and 
Muskingimi: two-thirds of Guernsev: one-fifth of Bebnont and 



18 7A\-F.s^• TT,T.F. IX THE Flood of 1913. 

of Noble and a small comer of :Monroe. Here are 22 counties 
out of Ohio's S8 wliicli cftntribute all or part of their rainfall to 
the two rivers which flow through Zanesville. 

If on Wednesday, :\rarch 26, 1013, the people of Zanesville 
could have had in mind the foregoing formidable figures, con- 
necting them Avith the fact that the Muskingum at Zanesville 
took passage through a neck all too narrow and crooked for so 
vast a vessel, thousands of them who on that day vsere caught 
in the flood would have betaken themselves and conveyed their 
belongings with all speed to higher levels. 

Never again should Zanesville be caught napping in such 
a fashion. And if the general government or the state in the 
near future refuses or fails to furnish machinery whereby the 
progress of rain-storms in the Muskingum-Licking ^vatershed 
may be messaged to and promptly published in the cities con- 
cerned, then those cities should establish such machinery them- 
selves. 

The late flood left a danger-standard which nnist be referred 
to in Zanesville every time heavy and prolonged rains fall in the 
water-basin north and west of her. Accurate -ami frequently- 
furnished reports as to such rainfalls should become a matter 
of course. 



STORY OF THE FLOOD. 



Zanesville's last zn-ax fiond. and the wnist up to tliat tiir:f'. 
«.'eciiiTed in Mavcli of ]SOS. After that cvciit her i>eople ventured 
to assiune that the *f)S hiyh-water mark wa.- not likely to he ex- 
eeeded unless a heavy snow in the valleys north and west should 
go off ^ntll torrential rains. Knnwinu' on this oi-casion that those 
valleys were free from snow residents at lirst felt <afe in elevating 
their persons and their j^ortahle property to levels just above the 
"98 higli-water mark. 

That bit of optimism was hard hit by Tuesday evening. ^larr-h 
I'o. for Avhe]-eas 24 hours before the !Muskin2-um had stood at but 
11 feet in the lower pool and 8.2 feet in the upper pr>ol. on Tues- 
day evening at six oV-loek it had risen to 2s and 14 feet, respec- 
tively, a gain of. ]T feet below the dam and of nearly six feet 
above it. 

lickixg's rapid risk. 

Tills alarming rise in the lower pool was owing to the eon- 
dition of the Licking, a stream reniarkalile for the suddenness of 
its rising and the rapidity of its falliuL; stages. On Tuesday 
evening this river was expe<-ted soon to lie at its crest. Few per- 
sons dreamed that the ^Muskingum would be i-ising in the upper 
pool at the rate, not of four inr-hes an hour, as on ^londay night 
and early Tuesday, but of nearly a fr'ot an hour on "Wednesday. 
* As it was. darkne.ss came Tuesday ujjon thousands of teri-i- 
tied people. The rain was falling in tori-ents. The water was 
si»reading over large sections of the <>\d Seventh and the old Eighrli 
wards: and as the night woi-e on the saving- of men. women and 
children became more of a problem and dutv than the saving of 
dollars. By two o'clock Wednesday morning the lower pool 
U'easured 3-5 feet, which was within 1.8 feet of the depth reached 

I'.i 



20 



ZA^"ES^^IXE ix the Flood of 1913. 



in 1898 ; and the two rivers were gaining on the to\\-n at the rate 
of 10 inches an hour. 

A NIGHT OF TERROR. 

"WTien daylight came on Wednesday it revealed appalling ex- 
panses of water and appalling proofs of higher stages to come; 
and when the morning Times Recorder appeared it told of the 



.^^ T^^^^i. ; vk=-iS*=-^S-' ;' '-- ^^^ 




ice^:^;iU'- 



Fifth Street bridge. Crest line of flood came within 100 feet of point where turn tow 
high span is made. House in foreground is at corner of Elberon and Sixth. 
Great havoc was wrought by flood between there and Fifth Street bridge. 



ard 



frantic calls for help that had gone up in the city's lowlands dur- 
ing the night and of hundreds of heroic rescues accomplished 
there. Manifold as these seemed to have been it was feared that 
300 or more persons had perished in the flood. 

Wednesday in the flooded zones was marked by unceasing 
struggle In behalf of life, property and home and in the higher 
sections bv unceasmg effort in the direction of rescue and relief. 



ZaNK>SVILLE IX THE Fl.ool. OF 1913. 21 

And still the rain poured do\m. while the onrushing tide rn.se to 
higher and higher stages. 

THi: CITV IX DARKXE.SS. 

Zanesville never faced a night in such dread and panic as at 
the close of that calamitous "Wpdnesday. The flood had put the elec- 
tric light plant out of roip.ii:i.->ii>n at 4:oo o'clock that morning and 
the to\^^l was in darlaiess. Heart-piercing calls for succra- were 
heard on every hand. Resiniers in l)i:.ats and vehicles were snatch- 
ing hundi-eds from death at xh*- peril of their < >wn lives. The i iver 
was 13 feet higher than ever Ik.- fore. It was pouring across !Mam 
street at First. Second and Third and at the intervening alleys 
in streams so deep and swift as tn appall the onlooker. At srs 
o'clock "Wednesday evening water had hacked up Main from 
Third street and had turnt-d down Fo;u'th to meet backwater 
from the lower ponl. then standing in that thoroughfare 150 feet 
toward South street. 

A p.dox— thp: raix hah ( ea>el>. 

Welcon.e. indeed, was daylight on Thursday. T\'ith it <;ame 
cloudy weather, but the rain had ceased shortly after three o'clock 
that n.tirning. The water had reached Fifth and !^[ain streets. 
after a lise of about two feet in the upper pool. The all-important 
question was. had the rain which deluged Zanesville "Wednesday 
and Wednesday night fallen also over the valleys of the upper 
Muskingum and her tributaries. If it had. then an alaiming 
further rise must be faced. If not. with the Ficking on the de- 
cline the crest would soon be reached. At any rate thousands 
took heart of hope while hundreds turned anew with quickened 
energy and rising coiu'age toward saving lives and supphing food 
and shelter. 



22 Zaxesviule ix the Flood of 1913. 

the fixal stacks. 

!Mi-. 8. A. AVel'er, who. with his art pottery, his opera house 
and his Sixth street residence at stake kei>t t-areful records of the 
filial stages of the flood, states that on ^farket street the river 
ro.se 6 indies an hmn- between -1 and 7 p. ni. Wednesday, the L'fith: 
■i inches an lionr l)ctween 7 and 9; two-and-a-lialf inches an hour 
between 9 and 12: one inch an hour from midnight to 1:30 Thurs- 
day morning and less than three-fourths of an inch an hour from 
that tune tuitil Thursday night at 9 o'clock, when the cre>t was 
j-eached. The statioiiary period lasted tnitil 3 a. m. Friday. By 
7 o'clock Friday moi-ning the water was down 18 inches. 

"When the flood halted Thursday night, on the east side of tlie 
river it drew a line very near the intersections of Marietta and 
South Seventh streets and of South Sixth and South streets: it 
crossed. :Nrain at Fifth, :Market 100 feet west of Xorth Sixth: X. 
SLxth loO feet north of Market: North street 100 feet west of 
Seventh: Seventh. 75 feet south of Elm: Franklin. -50 feet east of 
Seventh and Underwood 50 feet north of Price. 

IXTEESECTIOX STAGES. 

The depth of the water at im]:)ortant intersections has been 
approxin:iated with the following results: 

Marietta at Sixth. 10 feet. 

South at Third 11 feet, at Fourth 9 feet, at Fifth 6 feet. 

Main at First 9 feet, at Second 8 feet, at Third 411.. feet, at 
Fourth 2 feet, at Fifth 6 inches. 

Market at Second 15 feet, at Third 12 feet, at Fourth 5 feet. 
at Fifth 3 feet. 

North at Third 20 feet, at Fourth 17 feet, at Fifth 8 fee.K at 
Sixth 3 feet. / 

Elbei'on at Fifth 12 feet, at Sixth 5 feet. 

Howard at Seventh 5 feet. 

Zane at Seventh 9 feet. 



Zaxesmi.i.f. tx the FlooI" (IF ]9i:>. 23 

ox THK TERIIACE SIDE. 

Here the fi-cst-liiic ran aloiicr the liillsidi- Ijai-k of the Amer- 
ican Eneanstii; Tiling- <'i>".-. plant, takin;:' in Bhiff street: crM-st-d 
Adair avenne near Eurliil. Ball half way nj. !«> Maple. ^lai^le H'n 
feet north of (.'(■»iiui:is,vinut-r. Melntire at the west end of Mrlutire 




Xcrdi Fourth Street. Water ice:; :-. foreground %va; run:iing over Court Hjuse Esplnn- 

ade. after dark on iOth. Rising tide anxiously watched at Fourth and Main tiiat 

night. Lanterns tiashed in the darkness while boats and the patro! and 

other vehicles carr-cd Fourth Street residents t-i safety. 

park. It inundated all of the park and folluwed the ^It. Auburn 
hillside to the Newark road. 



IXTEl:.sEfTI(»X STAGES APPROXIMATED. 

Linden ave. at Adair 14 feet, at Ball 13 feet, at Connnissioner 
16 feet, at Mclntire 16 feet, at Lee 20 feet. 

Lee street at Pearl '2Ci feet. Same at State and Blue. 



24 Zaxesmij-e IX the Flood of 1913. 

IN' THE OLD SEA"EXTH TX'AED. 

AVliere the diamoiid of the Gaiit park ball gToimd once was 
located there stood 19 feet of water. Owner F. ^M. Tomiseud says 
that m the flood of 1S98 one and a half feet of water stood there. 
In this year'5 flood the crest-line c-rossed West !Main .street at the 
old entrance to the ball ground. Thence it ran south and east well ' 
up along the 'Sit. Calvary and ^lunson school hillsides and inter- 
sected Ridge are. at a point about 200 feet south of "West Mus- 
Idngum ave. The Chap's run backwater extended to within al)out 
100 feet of where the car line bridge spans that stream, near the 
J. B. Owens tiling plant. 0]i the east side of the run the high- 
water mark reached Luck ave. at a point 100 feet south of Vine 
street. Musldngum at a point about half way toward Pine and it 
crossed Pine at the north side of ^luskingitm. 

IXTERSECTIOX STAGES. 

West Main at Pine 20 feet, at Luck 17 feet, at Ridge 15 feet. 
at Osage 15 feet, at State 20 feet. 
Luck ave. at Vine 3 feet. 
West Muskingum at Ridge 10 feet. ■ 

PUTXA:\r "WATER LIXE. 

Two or three houses opposite the east end of Coopermill road 
and one near the Pennsylvania station on Washington street es- 
caped the flood, but with these exceptions all Putnam east of 
Buckingham Terrace and the Pennsylvania Company's tracks 
were in water, which entered even Woodlawii cemetery, creeping 
up the di'iveway a distance of 60 feet. 

IXTEIISECTIOX STAGES. 

Muskingmn at Woodlawn 10 feet, at Putnam 15 feet, at Jef- 
ferson 20 feet, at ^Madison 10 feet, at Harrison 10 feet, at Pierce 
12 feet. » y 



ZAXEriMLLE IX THE FlOOD OF 1913. 25 

"\Voodla\vn at Jeft'ersou o feet. 

Putuani at Jefferson 7 feet, at ^^ladison S feet at Harrison 
8 feet, at Maysville ave. 9 feet, at Jolinson 9 feet. 

Moxaliala ave. at Adams 15 feet, at Jefferson IS feet, at Van 
Bureii 12 feet. 

Between the court house and Gant Park the water was a mile 
and a quarter wide. 

r. S. EXGIXEKK MOESER's FIGUEES. 

Resident V. S. Enaineer Edmund M'-est-r reports the follow- 
ing sta.cies in the river's lower i>'><-A on "Wednesday. Maroh 26: 

At sLx a. m.. 39 . : 10 a. m.. 42 . : 2. p. m.. 45 .0:6 p. m.. 4S . . 
On Thursday the pool measured 49.3 at 6 a. m. and 51.8 at night, 
when the crest had been reached. The upper pool stood at 39.1 
at 6 p. m. Thursday. Tuofficial marks show that this upper pool 
was 17 feet higher than in 1S9S. 

During the flood of 1SS4 the lower pool's greatest depth was 
34.1: in 1S9S. 36. S. 



WHERE THE CURREXTS RAX RIOT. 



Zane.svillc did not fully realize until the Mnskini;inn had re- 
tired to her hanks what titanir efforts she had n.ade t<' •■cut arros> 
lots." 

Evidence of this was especially startlinu alouu' the railroad 
tracks extending;; from the Brown ^Manufactui-inu (V.'s. plant t" 
Market street, from which line the overflow rushed acmss the 
rails and ran southward, over Howard. North. ^Market and Main. 
by Avay of the nnmliered streets, from Xorth -Sixth down, and the 
intervcninp: alleys. Much railroad roadlied was washed out near 
the river and deep washings occurred on the city side <.f tlu- track- 
near the Fifth street bridge. 

TORE thp: "texix.sula." 

In the lower ^Main street neigbborlniod it was as if the dam 
had been extended eastward along that thoroughfare, putting the 
south end of First, Second, Third and Fourth streets into the 
river's lower pool. At First street the current was overwhelm- 
ing. At Second, below Main, it took out sidewalk and street to a 
depth of ten feet for a distance of 100 feet, carrying away part of 
the heavy stone wall supporting the Pennsylvania tracks as if it 
had been made of wood. A still deeper, wider and louger excava- 
tion was made at Third just Ijelow :Main where a portion of the 
Munson Music store was washed out. The alley alongside the Odd 
Fellows' building suffered relatively as much. 

The large number of houses, stores and shops swept away and 
wrecked in this district, sometimes called the Peninsula, tells the 
story of the mighty liver's mad rush toward the lower pool along 
the short way. But for Zanesvillc's paved streets and alleys this 
district would have l}een more heavilv damaged. 



ZaNEsVIF.LK IX THK Fr.OOD OF 1913. 



27 



The vast capaeiTy uf the Lirkino:. Chap's Run. Timber Run 
aud Joe's Run valleys as disix-rsion areas furnished another r-rm- 
diti'>n proving- fortunate for the Zanesville business district. An 
iiiauense vohune of the ]^Iuskiniuni poured into those eavities. 
throuu'h the -'Id Eidith V.'ard. that ntherwise \v..uld have rau'ed 
a'-r-'T-s lower Main street. 




\\r.zTi E. & O. track? ar.'-l First Street intersect. WiM river rushed into this pocket 

•.vith ai; sort- •if wreckage, w'.ien it took the cut-ott through railroad yards to 

lower p-"'l. Keririis-Gorsuch G'.-.;ss W'-'rks •■■.". rig'u damaged to extent 

'"•I ■•?l"iAi""'. T'.:i~ i:i(!u-try resumed \v.:.rk May "J", in part. 

The LickiuL:-. \vhi(.-h at it^ own flood-rrest was IS inches hight-r 
th'an in 1S9S. was l)uried Ix-neath the ^Muskiugiun's mass on ^larrh 
27. when the greater river hacked up Xhv valley a distance of nine 
miles and sjjread out at two jjoints to a width of li ^ miles. In 
the smaller basins referred to there was a 'corresponding dis- 
persion. 



28 Zaxesvtt.t.f, in the Flood of 1913. 

ON THE TERRACE SmE. 

Across the rivei" an outward bulge of corresponding force 
surged westward over the Licking's flood, sending drift to the far 
borders of the old Eighth ward. It was because the Muskingum 
was 15 feet higher than ever before while the Licking was less than 
2 feet higher that this territory suffered losses so unprecedented 
in the late flood. 

Joseph R. Do\Mis. editor of the Signal, who saw the flood from 
the Terrace and wrote a graphic account thereof, illustrates the 
difference between the 3898 and the 1913 floods, in the Terrace 
section, by stating that in the first year the water at its highest 
just covered the car tracks at Linden ave. and Commissioner 
street, whereas this year it was 16 feet a])ove them. 

"WTST END of Y. 

The Muskingum's relative as well as actual preponderance 
over the Licking also caused the section at the west end of the 
Y-Bridge to become a center of awful destruction. Here the 
greater flood ran over the lesser and swirling torrents poured into 
and across that "pocket" so resistlessly that only the frame por- 
tion of the Hook mill and the Perry block were able to withstand 
them. Here even the big trees were uprooted or bent far over 
toward the earth. 

THE PUTNAM SIDE. 

The inside of another bend in the river was torn and swept 
when the stream no longer could confine itself to the regular 
channel. This was at the curve extending from the Sixth street 
bridge to ^Madison street, where the Curtis Lumber and the TVeidig 
Foimdry plants were practically wiped out of existence, where 
the new Eclipse laundry was tremendously damaged, where the 
"W. E. Tingle residence was virtually wrecked and from which a 
number of residences were swept down stream. Here, too, great 
trees were torn up, while a large section of Muskingum ave. was 
deeply washed. 



COMMUXICATIOX CUT OFF. 



All but tlie draw and Putnam spans of the Sixth street l)ridge 
Tvent down on the morning of the 26th. carried away by the old 
Muskingmu woolen mill, as it floated down stream, and the Put- 
nam span was sent to the bottom by the Third street bridge when 












lit^O 



^^'^ - 



Fennsyh-ania Railroad and Third Street bridge piers. Mighty current bent tv.o great 
bridge trusses around lower piers and lifted another truss clear over a pier. 
Foot bridge, on cables, hung to Third Street piers soon after flood, was 
used daily by thousands. 

it left piers and abutments at 12 :10 p. m. By the middle of the 
afternoon the rising flood had pushed the Pennsylvania railroad 
bridge into the river. Xot long afterwards the Y. save its lamp- 
posts, went out of sight, appearing to have defied the demon of 
destruction to the last, although unable to keep its head above 



30 ZA^-ES^•ILLE ix the Flood of 191^ 

water. The B. & 0. bridge had fallen into the river early in the 
morning, except one span at the west end, which stood fast through 

the flood. 

Meanwhile, the west approach to the :Nronroe street bndge 
had been knocked into the stream, while the two approaches to the 
Fifth street structure had disappeared under fast-rising torrents. 
And thus it was that submergence and destniction put every tele- 
phone and telegraph line crossing the river out of commission. 

A DAY OF DREAD AND AXGl'ISH. 

On that tragic Wednesday, then, all oi-dinary means of inter- 
eonnnunication .-eased to exist and thousands of residents went 
throudi the dav and night hanx.wed with the fear that relatives 
and friends on the other side might hare perished or lost their 
aU in the flood. Under this strain men and w(jmen aged per- 
ceptibly in a day. ^lany a gray hair was added to many a Zanes- 
-s-ille head during those hours of torturing anxiety. 

Few of Zanesville"s families were wholly exempt from this 
form of mental an-uish. The city was cut into four separated 
and greatlv hnperifed sections, ^faiiy families were represented 
in each of these. The dread and solicitude Avhich marked this 
separation cannot be expressed in words. 



COMMUNICATION RESTORED. 



And even when falling- stage?; Ijegan it was felt that many 
liours must elai>>e before tidings c-nuld lie exc-hanged across the 
river. But here human ingenuity found a way to i-eassuro. 
~ The credit for the first exr-hanac of information ])eli-nr;^ to 




Main, west of Fifth. Flood at its crejt. Four inches of water stood in Main Street 

doorway of Clarendon Hotel (on left). Bags of sand inside of door kept water 

out of lobby. Hack in street was carried there by current from Xorth 

Founh Street. Almost 2 fee: of water on floor of the .\. E. 

Starr store. 

Joseph E. Brown, the Putnam hill eontraetor. whose son was on 
the east side of the river and concerning whose fate the father 
was intensely anxious. Early Thursday morning ]\Ir. Bro-wn 
nailed two l)larklu)ards to a po.st. took the outfit to the brow of 
Putnam hill, jilantcd it there and wrote a message on it. 



32 ZANES^•ILLE IN THE FlOOD OF 1913. 

In the endeavor to signal to flood-viewers standing on the 
roofs across the river he tried the old plan of sending up a column 
of smoke by igniting loose powder. This failed to attract atten- 
tion and he borrowed a pony cannon and shot it oft'. 

Among those on the east side who heard the report was Par- 
cel Post Clerk Charles V. Paul, who was standing on the roof qf 
the federal building. Divining the signaler's purpose Mr. Paul 
secured a field glass and a blackboard. Levelmg the glass he read 
on the Putnam hill signal-board the words : • • 

"We are all wellon this side. No deaths reported." 
Then Mr. Paul wrote the word "Good," which was read by 
Isbr. Brown with the aid of his glass and who wrote again, "Have 
you anv deadf" The reply was "No deaths reported!" 

When this was announced to the Putnam hill gathering, then 
numbering several hundred, there was a shout of joy. Those 
people had heard that hundreds of east-side residents had perished 
in the flood. 

The nest Post office signal was, "Have you enough food?" 
and the answer came, "Two carloads." Later, Mayor Schofield 
messaged to the hilltop a request that E. F. O'Xeal take care of a 
carload of pro\-isions then in Putnam and to order the saloons to 
close their doors. 

Other exchanges succeeded in this way and later in the dav 
these were supplemented by messages sent by the wig- wag method, 
with Conunodore W. W. Buchanan operating on the hill and the 
signal corps of Company A, Ohio National Guard, on the town 
side, the U. S. Army and Navy code being put into use. 

WIRELESS WORKED WELL. 

At 2 o'clock on the afternoon of the 27th the two-boat rescue 
party whose feats of daring are elsewhere referred to succeeded 
in crossing to the Terrace,^ 7th ward and Putnam, carrying in- 
formation°concerning the East Side situation and retuniing next 
morning ^\nth tidings as to the sections they had \'isited. 



Zaxesxtlle ry the Flood of 1913. 



33 



Aiid the youth of the city refused to be outdone as uews- 
bearers. On Friday, at the Brighton home of W. J. Atwell, his 
son Edward and Charles Shryock set up a wireless apparatus; 
Harry Templeton and Arthur Bischoft" erected another on Put- 
nam hill; Eudolph Kamphausen and Harry Shryock rigged up 
their apparatus on "Water-'Works hill. 

"When all was ready these enterprising young workers got 
into communication Avith ear-h nther and there was for a day or 
so a lively exchange of information and official messages which 
relieved anxiety and contributed to the plans already launched 
to prosecute conr-erted relief. 




m:f 



■?^^<v^3 it^^ ^ yt^ 



?--^Sv 










Linden Avenue levee. Broken down for a distance of abjui Si'O fee:. Break caused 

enormous damage on Linden and in-.ersecTine streets. .Approximately •2'"' feet of 

water covered Linden here Xote drift high up in trees. 



FEEDING THE HUNGRY. 



Not, however, that officials and citizens in the several sections 
had waited for concerted action to afford relief. Far from it. 
On the east side as early as Tuesday afternoon Director of Safety 
George T. Orr, in person and through the patrolmen, had \/arned 
all tlie lowland dwellers in the old Seventh and Eighth wards to 
flee from the flood to com.e and with equal foresight Service Di- 
rector Elmer E. Evans had fitted up the Ball sture I'oom, on 
South Fifth street, for their recei)tion. Here many refugees spent 
the night, satisfying hunger with bread and milk furnished by 
the city. 

"Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock, when the water was fast 
approaching the court house esplanade "via Main and Foiti'th 
streets, Mr. A. E. Starr, meeting at that point Directors Evans 
and Orr, together with ^Messrs. Sam "Weber, ]\Iorris Ressler. H. 
Serkowich and Frank G. Grace, proposed an immediate relief or- 
ganization. 

Repairing to the Peoples Savings Bank these and other gen- 
tlemen organized by electing Mr. Starr chairman and delegating 
Mr. W. E. Deacon to secure food and establish an eating house. A 
fund for relief already had been subscribed. 

TROMPT ORGAXIZATIOX. 

Later, on this foimdatiou. a strong organization was more 
fonnaUy effected, ituder the title of The Citizens" Relief Asso- 
ciation, of which 'Sir. Starr was elected chairman and F. G. Grace 
secretary, with a working force as follows : 

Finance Committee— H. C. A'anYoorhis, "W. P. Sharer, "W. B. 
Deacon, T. F. Spangler and A. T. Baker. 

.34 



Zaxesvili.e IX THE Flood OF 1913. 35 

Relief work south of South St. — Rev. Hugo W. Kainphauseu: 
south of Maiu. Rev. T. B. AVhite: Main to North. Rev. C. Uoyd 
Strecker aud Dr. W. A. iNIelifk: Xorth to river. Rev. Jas. H. 
Kinney and E. G. Etzlor. 

Chaiiman F(jod and Supplies ("V>nnr.ittee— "W. E. Deacon. 

Chainr.aii Press CouHiiittee— Gen. R. B. Brown. 




\ -.-v.^ c 











Old Seventh Ward from hill near Mt. Calvary. Flood at crest. Between Coun House 
(near center of background) and trees in foreground the river was one and one- 
quarter miles wide. It was about ■_'" feet deep on West Main, where the 
large square house stands and 1-j feet deep at Osage and West Main. 

Physicians' Relief— Dr. H. T. Sutton. 

To issue permits— Charles Geis. 

In charge of warehouses— Louis H. "Wise. 

To solicit fimds-Sam Weber. AV. R. Baker. Chas. H. Row- 
lands. South Sixth St. storehouse in charge of Fred M. Hook. 

As soon as the people east of Zanesville heard of her hungry 
flood -^-ictims the women began to bake and the men to provide 



36 Zaivesville in the Flood of 1913. 

and ship eatables. The B. & 0. raikoad was open to withm four 
miles of the city and to this point carloads of provisions were 
shipped by rail and thence conveyed to town by farmers in their 
wagons and by wagons sent out from the city. There were wagon 
trains which reminded old residents of Civil TTar days. 

Zanesville's churches and halls were thrown open to the 
refugees. At noon on Thursday a public eating house was opened. 
Thus fii'st aid to the stricken made good progress in the main sec- 
tion of the city. 

Over 3000 flood sufferers were fed daily in this section for 
more than a week. The public eating house, in the Shinnick block. 
was in charge from first to last of Mrs. John Bauer, who was ably 
assisted by Mrs. Otto Bauer. 

On March 31, Mr. I. Wesley Ellenberger was appointed as- 
sistaht secretary and chief accountant of the Relief Assocation. 
Later he became Eed Cross agent for Zanesville. 

At the meeting held April 2. Chairman Starr reported that 
an appeal had been made to the national headquarters of the Red 
Cross at Washington askmg that a representative of the organiza- 
tion be sent to Zanesville to see at first hand the extent of the 
disaster. 

At this meeting a committee consisting of A. E. Starr. W. B. 
Deacon, Judge H. C. Smith and E. R. Meyer was appointed to 
develop a systematic plan for' the receipt and distribution of 
supplies. 

Mr. Starr suggested that circular letters be prepared setting 
forth that Zanes-^-ille needed a large amount of aid. these to be 
sent out with business letters leaving Zanesville, and ^Messrs. 
Morris Ressler, Dr. H. T. Sutton, E.^F. O'Neal and the Hon. 
Frank B. Fell were appointed as a committee to seek national aid 
through Governor Jas. M. Cox. 

On April 3, Wm. E. Deacon reported supplies on hand for 
10 days. Mrs. Albert Dugan was authorized to establish a day 
nurserv. L. D. Abel brought the committee the good news that 



Zaxesmixe IX THE Flood OF 1913. 37 

the chamber of commerce of Pittsburg was about to send a large 
donation of cash and supplies. 

RELIEF LN* PUTXAM. 

Putnam got into action Wednesday evening T\-hen ^Messrs. 
"Walter Black, George W. Hivnor and Jno. D. Imlay called at the 
home of Judge H. C. Smith and urged that he become the head of 
relief operations on the Putnam side. As the whole of Putnam 
east of the C. & M. Y. tracks was at that time invested by the 
water action was imperative and Judge Smith stepi^ed into the 
breach, called in assistants and relief work began. 

On the next evening a meeting of Putnam men was held in the 
office of the Zanesville Stoneware Co's. plant, when Judge Smith 
was foiTually placed at the head of all relief work and was made 
mayor of Putnam. 

A judiciary committee composed of H. F. Achauer. A. A. 
George and George "W. Hivnor immediately met and distributed 
typewi'itten notices declaring Putnam to be under martial law 
and guards were delegated to keep order. A Hospital Committee 
was fomied. with George Fonts as chainnan; a Finance Com- 
mittee, vdth George Shaw as chainnan; a Registration Committee, 
with Jno. D. Imlay as chairman. Charles W. Corbin became 
captain of police. 

STROXG WOP.KIXG FORCE. 

other appointments were made as follows: 

SupeSintendents of supplies. F. M. Ransbottom, Charles F. 
Spence; superintendent wholesale grocery. C. E. Wendell; super- 
intendent retail grocery, John Rlainehart; superintendent storage, 
potatoes and flour, Charles P. Leslie; superintendent clothing de- 
partment. Milton ^IcKinney: sujDerintendent bed clothes and bed 
supplies, Robert Guinsler; office clerks. W. S. Trace, G. A. Daw- 
son; keeper of cash grocery, G. W. Hi^mor; keeper of cash meat 
market. Carl Ratliff: superintendent teams, W. A. Emery; build- 



38 Zaxesmlle IX the Flood of 1913. 

ing inspectors, Joseph B. Showers, carpenter; R. C. Carlou, brick 
mason, ^X. E. Tingle, clerk; street commissioners, H. M. High- 
field, James Showers : timekeeper, Karl Ostermeyer. 

The first guard thro\m out in Putnam was known as the 
Colonial Guard. Some of its membei's were C. A. Dawson, V. S. 
Hostetter, Mauley Thompson, John S. Richardson, Randall Berk- 
shii-e, AValter Black, Frank Israel William S. Coulson. T. ]M. 
Lynn, AV. E. Stockdale, Carl Ostermeyer and Paul Kern. 

Hom-s before this organization got into action himdreds of the 
Putnam refugees had been taken care of by residents of the hills 
on the west and of Brighton, but on Thursday hunger seized a 
great multitude and Judge Smith aiid his co-laborers f^t-ed a food 
problem which taxed their resources. 

Already two box cars containing potatoes and flour which 
stood on the tracks in Putnam had been broken open. The con- 
tents were sold to refugees who could afford to buy and given to 
others. The sales brought in $1138. 

BY MAX POWER. 

And then the situation became known to the people of Rose- 
ville, Crooksville, New Lexington, Lancaster and intermediate 
sections. The first response came from Roseville when, under the 
lead of Mr. F. M. Ransbottom, 40 men of that town loaded a 
freight car with 1600 loaves of bread, a whole beef. 4 dressed hogs. 
14 cases of eggs and other supplies, pushed it over a partly flooded 
track a distance of five miles, attached horses thereto and send- 
ing it two miles further secured a Pennsylvania locomotive and 
an empty car, then transferred their load to the car and so got 
it into Putnam. Mr. Ransbottom stayed m Putnam for many 
days doing energetic relief work. Later, provisions poured in 
from many sources. 

One each of the fii'st five days of relief, the Putnam men gave 
out food to 9000 victims of the flood. This nimiber was gradually 
lessened as the Putnam refugees returned to their homes. In all. 



ZaXESVILLE IX THE FlOOD OF 1913. 



39 



500 families were .supplied with beds and l)edding. The relief 
station was discontinued April 20. The work of relief had been a 
moumnental success. 

Superintendent Paul Jones, of the Pennsylvania Lines, 
placed a passenger car at the disposal of Judge Smith to be used 
as an office and supply station, and he equipped the car with 
stoves, cots and other articles to insure comfort. An engine was 



.>'^• 



'»» I i-i 



i . 



i^-^- -^^ ■'ij/. 








West Main, end of V-bridge. About 2u buildings were suep: away, moved from founda- 
tions, or demoHihed in this immediate neighborhood. First the Licking tore 
tlirough it and then the Muskingum finished the work of destruction. 

also idaced at the command of the committee, and the road's tele- 
graph operators at Fair Oaks and Putnam gave precedence to all 
relief messages sent to other towns by Putnam headquarters. 



SEVENTH WARD RELIEF. 



The astonishingly rapid rise of the Licking river on the 25th 
caused rescue and relief work to antedate organization in the 



40 Zaxesatlle in the Flood of 1913. 

old Ttli Ward. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the water was over 
2 feet high on "West Main street, near the State street bridge. 
This was sufficient to flood a very large section of the old 7th 
Ward and indi^^dnal acts of rescue and relief became necessary 
during the afternoon and night. 

jSText morning citizens on the east side of Chap's run passed 
around word that a relief organization would be formed at the 
hose house that evening. 

When this meeting was held, Wm. B. Deacon was made chair- 
man and Fred H. Bolin, secretary. The reniamder of the organ- 
ization was as follows: 

I committees, etc. 

Patrol Service— Conmiodore "W. AV. Buchanan. 

Hospital- Wm.M. Dodd, J. P. Bolin, Charles Griffiths. 

Pest House— Dr. C. P. Sellers, Howard Denny, George 
Metzger. 

Commissary— H. E. Buker, J. A. Thomas. Fred C. Parker, 
W. H. Bolin. C." 0. Vinsel. Joseph Phillips. 

Distribution of Supplies— George Eberl, Robert Price. S. K. 
Mitchell, John Few, Orville Atwell. Charles Hook. 

Relief Funds-E. F. O'Xeal, R. H. Rutherford. T. F. 
Thompson. 

Saloon Regulation - T. F. Thompson, J. P. Bolin. E. F. 
O'Neal. 

Soliciting— Fred Buerhaus, TVm. Flowers, "Wm. Mason, C. A. 
Arnold. 

General Headquarters— Seventh Ward fii'e station. 

Headquarters for Distribution of Supplies— Garfield school 
house. 

Hospital— Columbia school building. 

While relief work was going forward under this organiza- 
tion, many additions to the working forces were made. Colonel 
Fred Geiger was placed in full control of the supplies located in 



ZaXESATLLE IX THE FlOOD OF 1913. 41" 

the Garfield school building. Mr. and Mrs. TVm. X. Werner and 
Mrs. Stuart Speer served the refugees faithfully at the Munson 
school building. County Commissioner Elba Howell donated 
teams to haul sujDplies. Howard Denny went to Dillon Falls and 
secured farmers and teams to assist in the hauling. B. F. Cald- 
well placed his team at the committee's disposal. 

With but eight groceries in the ward out of water the food 
question was pressing. The first recourse was to a house-to- 
house canvass, then auto-owuers drove their machines into the 
comitry districts for provisions. Some supplies were pui'chased 
at South Zanesville. As luck would have it several carloads of 
food supplies lay at Dillon Falls, three miles away, destined for 
Dayton flood sufferers, but held at the Falls by the Licking's high 
stage. During the next two days 75 wagon-loads of these pro- 
visions and clothing were conveyed from Dillon and distributed. 
At the same time supplies were coming from Putnam. Later, the 
provisions poured in. 

GREAT RELIEF RECORD. 

Between March 27 and April 12 this organization gave out 
3325 baskets of provisions, besides furnishing Coimcilman John 
E. Yates food for 125 persons m the west end of the ward for 
several days. 

The committee furnished to the !Mimson building food (to be 
cooked) for 70 to 100 persons. It also fm-nished a good many 
limches for men employed in cleaning the ward up. serving mid- 
day lunches to about 70 men for thi'ee or foui* days. It also fur- 
nished eatables to men who worked on the streets dming the fii'st 
day or two after the flood. 

A great deal of food and provisions was donated, of which 
no account was kept. 

. 4 THE F.4.T OF THE LAND. 

This organization received a share of the provisions pushed 
into Putnam bv that famous band of 40 Roseville men. Other 



42 Zanes\"ille IX the Flood of 1913. 

supplies came in from the faiuiiers roundaljout, who had heard of 
the city's plight. Some of these wagoned provisions as far as 
from Thoniville, a distance of 26 miles. These gifts were as 
choice in quality as they were generous in quantity, including 
butter, eg^ii, fruits, and other delicious eatables. 

The women of the Tth "Ward worked with ceaseless energy 
while this relief work was going on. contributing greatly to its 
success. 

The militia put in but 48 hours in this section. There was 
little or no looting and there were no arrests, so the .soldiers soon 
were dispensed with. 

OLD SEATXTH AVARD. 'U'E.ST EXD. 

Upon the fonnation of the central section's relief organiza- 
tion Chairman Starr telephoned to Rev. R. AV. Xairn and ^Irs. 
Wm. -X. "Werner, in-ging that plans be made to takp care of the 
refugees in their territory. In due time an organization was ef- 
fected on that side, with Rev. Mr. Xairn as chairman. C. J. Weaver 
as secretajy, and W'm. X. Werner as treasm'er. 

^Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon. INIrs. Wm. X. Werner 
took charge of the relief arrangements at the ^lunsou school 
and at 2 p. m. the refugees ate their first meal there, the food 
having been prej^ared and furnished by the generous-hearted 
women of the neighborhood. "When this ]SIunson school section 
was organized a relief committee of 30 was selected. Mr. J. 'SI. 
Moore was appointed on finance, with power to name conmiit- 
teemen to secure funds. 

Mr.'Frank Bell was placed at the head of a connnittee of per- 
sonal workers. Mrs. Wm. X. "Werner was appointed chainnan 
of a committee to distribute clothing and food. Mr. Edward Gigax 
and Mrs. Wm. C. Handshy were directed to purchase suj^plies. 

On Saturday Chairman Moore reported that -fSOo had been 
turned in and that a great amount of clothing was now on hand. 



Zaxes^ille IX THE Flood OF 1013. 43 

At this meeting steps were taken to co-oi)erate Avitli the dis- 
tributing connnittee at the Garfield building. 

During some of the fluod days 275 refugees were fed in this 
west section of the Old Tth ward. Clothing was distriljuted there 
for a week and then it was distributed from the Garfield scImciI 
building. 







Linden Avenue opposite Brown M ig. Go's plant. The scene of many thrilling rescue? 

and heavy damage. Current was dangerously swift. Water covered Elun Street 

on hillside. Submergence at this point i.n er \l feet. 

TERRACE RELIEF. 

Earlv "Wednesday morning. ^March 26, Hon. H. C. Van- 
Voorhis suggested to a group of Terrace men that a meeting be 
held to begin the work of relief. This meeting occurred in the 
Jewish temple at 10 o'clock a. m.. !Mr. YanVoorhis being elected 
chairman and Mr. ^Mannie Levi, secretary. 

Here an executive committee was appomted. constituted as 
follows: A. Loeb, C. T. :\Iarshall. J. E. Alexander. TV. TT. 



44 Zaxesville ix- the Flood of 1913. 

Harper and Louis Krol:). Chairman Loeb delegated !Mr. Marshall 
to secure supplies from the outside and Mr. Ivi"ob to secure them 
from the city, Mr. Alexander to provide additional housing and 
Mr. Harper to act as treasurer. 

The Tvork of rescue was continued and that of relief began 
at once. The women of the Terrace took up their share of the 
burden at a meeting held at 1 p. m., "Wednesday, and kept up their 
labors ^nthout halt or rest as long as it was needed. . . 

FIEST AID to the HUXGRY. 

Soon it was seen that protection must go hand in hand with 
relief. To insure this, L. K. Bro^^■n tkrew open his Terrace 
home and it became official headciuarters. Here, on TTeduesday, 
H. A. Sharpe Avas sworn in as mayor and E. E. Meyer as chief of 
police, who appointed 200 of their neighbors as deputy sheriffs, 
this force patroling every street on the highlands/Wednesday, 
Thursday and Friday nights. The homeless were fed Wednesday 
and Thm'sday on home provisions issued in sparing portions be- 
cause of their scarcity and secured by a house-to-house canvass 
made by Mamiie Levi. I. H. Birnbaum, S. M. Sander and others. 

Foreseeing that outside help must be invoked the relief com- 
mittee sent couriers out into the country as far as Frazeysburg, 
to report the situation. On Thursday evening three big wagons 
fuU of eatables came ia from that \-illage and other installments 
followed from other quarters in sufficient quantities to meet the 
daily needs. 

The supplies came none too soon. All the old Eighth ward 
and all of upper Linden avenue were vmder water. They sent a 
multitude of refugees to the Terrace, whose groceries soon dis- 
posed of aU their stocks. 

Operations went forward under the foUowmg arrangement: 

James R. Alexander took command of the conmiissary de- 
partment stationed at the James H. Lee house, Fiudley avenue. 



Zaxesmlle IX THE Flood OF 1913. 45 

J. Allen Hunter took conmiand of the quartermaster dejiart- 
ment at the Dr. Dennis house on Findley avenue, ■with power to 
distribute quartermaster stores. 

A. J. Senhauser took command of the service department, 
with power to employ men to clean up streets and to enforce 
ser\-ice by idle men. E. M. Ayers took charge of the sanitation 
department. 

During the fii'st flood days a fund of $659.65 was raised on the 
Terrace for relief. An average of 125 persons a day for two 
•weeks ate the food supplied. On some days the numl)er mounted 
to 275. 

The supply store was opened in the James H. Lee house 
on the Terrace. James E. Alexander called to his assistance 
there Messrs. Florien F. Frazier, S. E. McCaun. George Lillien- 
thal. J. F. Winchell. A. Jacobs and others, who worked manfully 
for days. Thomas S. Trainor. Perry Smith. Thomas Y. Luby, 
Fred G. Dodd. Frank T. Boyd. Harry Starr. I. H. Birnbaimi, 
Samuel Lmd, Closes Frank and many others served as patrol- 
men. Lmcoln school building, the Forrest and Euclid Ave. 
chitrches and the Jewish temple were thrown open to the homeless. 

The ladies of this conLrregation fed between 250 and 300 
refugees three times each day. 

As soon as the water had fallen a little Louis Krob manned 
a fleet of five boats and in these many sitpplies were transported 
from the East Side supply stations, none too safe a method, even 
as late as the 29th. It was a well-managed enterprise. 

Mr. Krob was ably assisted by H. E. Bailey. 

THE BABY REFUGE. 

Among the refugees were many babies, cared for by the women 
of the Terrace. The refuge was established at one of the new 
houses built by Rufus C. Burtr.u. Here twice a day the infants 
were bathed and cared for. 



46 ZAXE.S^1LLE IX THE FlOOD OF 1913. 

There was little sickness. One elderly male refugee who 
became ill was conveyed to Good Samaritan hospital in Dr. E. C. 
Logsdon's buguy, which had been abandoned on ]\lclntire avenue. 
The vehicle Avas propelled by man-power. 

CONSOLIDATED KEIJEF. 

On Aj^ril 5 an executive committee was created for the whole 
city, consisting of A. E. Starr. 0. X. Townsend, Judge A-. A. 
Frazier, E. F. O'Xeal and Judge H. C. Smith, and this committee 
decided to establish a central storehouse in the Annory, and a 
niunber of ward sul)-houses. 

On April 6 Judge A. A. Frazier was elected chairman of the 
executive committee and Dr. H. T. Sutton was delegated to take 
Mr. 0. X. Townsend 's j^lace on the committee, when that gentle- 
man was out of the city. , 

On the seventh. Judge Smith reported that a depot for house- 
hold supplies had been established at the Putnam pottery and a 
grocery near the corner of Harrison street and Putnam avenue. 
Mr. O'Xeal reported that the Garfield building was headquarters 
for all suj^plies in the old Tth ward. 

It was decided to share some of the supplies on hand with the 
flood sufferers along the river between Zanesville and McConnels- 
ville. This afterwards was done on a liberal scale. 

FEWER EATING HOUSES. 

A resolution expressing gratitude to railroads for the free 
transportation of supplies was passed. 

April 11 the cash subscriptions were stated to have been $30,- 
184.33. It was announced that the Terrace and Seventh Ward 
eating houses had been closed, that the Putnam "dining hall" 
would be closed April 12 and the central on the 15th. Word came 
from Red Cross officials that Eed Cross and Ohio Flood Com- 



Zaxesville IX THE Flood OF 1913. 



47 



mission fuuds would be used for temporary relief only and not 
to repair houses. 

April 16 it was decided to cease free coal and free food dis- 
tribution. 

THE NEW SYSTEM. 

Relief by distircts was established at this time as follows: 
Central 1 — Father John P. Roach. 

2— Revs. James H. Kinnev and C. Llovd Strecker. 










^-t: 










fe ^ rsT ^ , 









Maple Avenue at Commiisioner Street. Xot only wa5 there 10 feet of water at tlii 

point but there wa? a swift current, as the water shows. Two block} southward 

there was a submergence of "2i"' feet. 

3-Revs. T. B. White and J. B. Fisher. 
4-Rev. Otto H. Bm-henn. 
5— Father Baer. 
Terrace 1-Rev. H. S. Bailey and :\Iiss Brooks. 

2-Rev. Theodore "Crowl. C. E. Swingle. Miss Zins 
meister. 



48 Zanesville ix the Flood of 1913. 

3— Rev. Hugh ^Vart, Ih: Frank McCaddon. 

4— Ralph Logsdon. 

5— Misses Dare and Jackson. 

6- Mrs. Booth, Mr. Mcintosh. 

7— Miss Gei'^'ick, ^Nlr. Kimkle. 

THE LATER STAGES. 

By April 30 relief ^vork had reached its third stage, that of 
gi\-tng to flood victims beds and bedding on the basis of the f araily 
unit, the school teachers of the city having nobly canvassed flooded 
districts in order to make that system workable. The question 
of table supplies was now substantially closed, the men of the 
flooded sections being for the most jDart at work and able to 
provide. 

As this volume goes to press the problem is to secure funds 
for repairs on those flooded houses whose owners ^re financially 
miable to make them suitable for habitation. 



MARTIAL LAW AXD THE MILITIA. 



It was obvious early rm the morning of the 26th to Mayor 
John H. Schotiekl and Sheriff John J. Frick that extraordinary 
responsibilities were ab'nit to rest upon their shoulders and they 
telephoned for help to Judge A. A. Frazier. From his Terrace 
home the judge declared the city under martial law and turned 
over its government to ^Mayor Sehofield and Sheriff Frick. 

It is in order to say here that these two officials discharged 
their difficult duties with judgment, discretion and zeal. They 
were constantly on the duty line with faithful service. Deputy 
Sheriff Roll was a vigilant assistant and so were Directors Evans 
and Orr, Avhose service is referred to elsewhere. 

COMFAXY a's STEOXG RECGEt". 

The authorities were ably assisted by Company A, Ohio Xa- 
tioual Guard. These local boys, imder Cajitain Charles G. AVilt- 
shire. performed extraordinary service in patroliug the main sec- 
tion of the city, winning golden ophiions from all sorts of people 
during those stirring flood days. From midnight, March 26, imtil 
noon of the 29th they neither slept uor rested. They were on 
duty 26 days and saw all kinds of service in all kinds of weather, 
suffering many hardships and privations. 

^ledals for faithful duty during the flood have been arwarded 
to Capt. C. G. Wiltshire. Lieut. John Madden and Lieut. Cecil 
Daniels of Co. A. l)y the Seventh regiment headquarters. 

OrX-OF-TOWN CrAEKSIMEX. ' 

Company A's first relief came with the arrival on the 2Sth 
of Company E from Caldwell. Two days later Col. Charles C. 
"Weybrecht reached the Terrace with two companies of the 8th 

4.9 



60 Zanestille in the Plood of 1913. 

regiment and a hospital corps. From Putnam, on the ■2Sth, Judge 
Smith telephoned to General John C. Speaks of Columbus a re- 
quest for trooj)s, who caused two companies of the 8th to repair 
to that quarter. 

When Col. TTeybrecht and his troops reached the Terrace the 
law and order question was solved of course for that section, and 
as commmiication then rapidly was being restored and other 







Ji: 



1 



View from Mt. Auburn. Flood at crest. Old Eighth Ward in foreground. While the 
1913 flood was 15 feet higher than ever before at Lock No. 10, in the Old Eighth 
Ward it was ll'/i feet higher. There were 20 feet of water where the ^ 

picture centers. 

companies arriving it soon became practicable to police all parts 
of the city. 

Prof. Eobert jMiller's vacant Terrace house became hospital 
headquarters over there and the guards in that quarter were es- 
tablished in the H. A. Sharpe Adair are. house. Col. "Weybrecht 
and his staff established headquarters in the L. K. Brown resi- 
dence. 



Zanes^tlle IX THE Flood of 1913. 51 

During their stay in Zauesville tlie officers and men of out- 
side companies won for themselves the same unstinted praise that 
was showered upon those of the local company. Zauesville ever 
will be grateful for the services all of these rendered. Experience 
teaches her that there is often an important and essential lAace 
for the National Guard and that Ohio's guardsmen admirably fit 
tlie place. 




:V i ' t. f-^-^- -__^.^ y_„^.. ■- -M| 



North Street, west of Sixth. Four feet of water in Fifth Street entrance of high school 

(on right); si.x inches around pulpit of Grace M. E. Church (on left). Note 

that even as far east as Xorth Sixth there was quite a current. 



THE BOY SCOUTS. 

So useful were the Boy Scouts of Zauesville during the flood 
that Colonel "Weybrecht has reconnnended them to Governor Cox 
for special recognition, declaring that the Scouts responded will- 
ingly to every call. One of the Ijoys, Forrest Lemert. was suffer- 
ing with a broken arm, but he stuck to his post. The scouts per- 



52 



ZaXESVILLE IX THE FlOOI) OF 1913. 



formed valuable service in the different jjarts of the city. Col. 
Dick Osmond, scout master of Troop 2, reports that every boy 
of the troojj was on duty for 21 days during the flood, and he adds : 
"The smallest boy in Trooj) Xo. 2, his name is Russell Linn, 
* * * aged 13 years, weight 70 pounds, height 4 feet. 6 inches, did 
wonderful work. This little fellow is a river rat and can swim a 
mile. He saved 20 people that were marooned on the high bridge 
of the city. In addition to that, this boy rescued five persons 
from an up-stairs residence: and all over the city the boys were 
doine; similar duties." 









\]-JM 




.t-7 • ' " 









♦^f*" 



:.-.-:^ 



Water seen on Xorth Fifth reached Main early Thursday morning, the iTth. Sewer 
there swallowed all that came for hours. Then flood gained on it and by even- 
ing covered Main, G inches deep. That was the utmost it could do. 



ONLY TWO LIVES LOST. SO WONDERFUL WAS THE 
RESCUE WORK. 



Ou Friday, tlie 28th. the river bad fallen .sufficientl.v to permit 
boatmah to reach, on either side, the nn.submerged portions of the 
Fifth and Monroe street bridges. Avhen separated members of 
families began to re.join each other. By Sunday morning, the 
water having receded to the "98 stage, some were doing this by 
wa.v of the Y-Bridge. which had emerged from the flood with 
some of its parapets and lamp pedestals battered dov^ii and a por- 
tion of its flooring washed away, but otherwise uninjured. As 
the people of the two sides can:e together again they told of the 
manifold rescues they had seen. Many of these accounts were 
bulletined by the newspapers. Some of those early rescue stories 
and others of a .similar character coming to light later are given 
here as a fitting feature of the restoration of communication. 

It was at first difficidt to l)elieve that with a flood stage 15 
feet greater than ever Ijefore and currer.Ts of unexami>led swift- 
ness, Zanesville had escaped with the loss of Imt two lives. The 
loss at Columbus, Dayton and Hamilton during the same flood 
period had been far greater. This was proof that police and 
volunteer rescuers hei'e had done a wonderful work. 

Mrs. Susanna Sloan of Linden avenue and Stephen Collins of 
Willow street were the two pei'sons found to have been droxAiied. 
It has been shown that ^Irs. Sloan refused to leave her home 
when boatm.en called to rescue her and that Collins had ample time 
in which to save himself. 

It woidd be impossible xr> descril^e in detail here all the rescues 
made. A great many that or-curred and are not so descril^ed de- 
served extended mention. This is omitted with smcere regret. 

The cases chosen for narration in detail are those presenting 
a com.bination of remarka1)le features. These are as follows: 



54 Zaxesvili^ IX the Flood of 1913. 

LOWERED so FEET TO SAJETY. 

James H. Lee, Frank Armstrong and Joseph Ball, members 
of the fii-m of Armstrong & Co., o^^^:lers of what is known as the 
Drone mill, located at the foot of Linden avenue, went, on the 
evening of the 25th, with nine men. into the warehouse to save 
some wheat and flour. The Licldng river came up so fast that 
after a while they were forced to break into the elevator, whose 
topmost floor stood nearly 100 feet from the street. Safety was 
assm-ed there if the elevator should stand firm, but would it? 
Suppose the mill across the street or the warehouse alongside 
shoiild go out. and, pulling on the cables attaching them to the 
elevator take it out, also? Or, suppose the Muskingmn should 
com.e over the levee and cut the foundation from mider that taU 
place of refuge ? 

The imperiled men could and did avoid the first danger by 
severing the two cables, but when, after a night of feverish 
suspense, daylight showed the Muskingimi to be pouring o\-er the 
Linden avenue levee the other danger seemed inmiinent. and to 
get down from that lofty perch and into some of those rescuing 
boats which they could see saving scores of people hourly from 
the rear of Linden avenue houses and from Lee street homes, was 
the one overmastering desire of the miUers. 

HEROIC oars:mex aeert. 
As the day advanced, the cm-rent down Li)iden became too 
suift for a boat to live in. On the west and south sides the way 
■was blocked by a great jam of floatage. Only the north side was 
accessible and there also the cm-rent was exceedingly dangerous. 
However, at about 1 :30 TTednesday afternoon an oarsman (name 
iinkn omi) did manage to swing his boat alongside the elevator 
and then three of the millers, one at a time, went down a cable 
which had been fastened above and were rowed to safety. 



Zaxesaillt. IX THE Flood OF 1913. 



oo 



An hour latt-r three more did the same, the brave boatman 
this time being Edward Brown. The Last instalhnent numbered 
five, and when these had been taken to terra firma by Paul Henry 
one of the most spectacular and heroic rescues of the many ef- 
fected during the flood was completed. 

So swift was the current down Peters alley, back of the 
elevator, and so full was it of floating buildings, that neither 










.L^- ■ . i-rt^' 



.]'■ ?'-- P' 









A.f 



Market Street, west of Sixth. Water at crest. Was guest of Palace Hotel (on right) 

to depth of over a foot. Registered in yellow. Rogge Hotel in background, on 

left. Here r2 feet of water did prodigious damage. Rescuers and boat 

render scene typical. Market house beyond hotel. 

rowers nor passengers could feel certain of their lives until the 
boats reached land. 

Messrs. Lee and Ball never gave up hope during tho.^e ter- 
rible hours, but it was difficult to convey their optimism to all of 
the men. At a notably dark moment one of these wrote a fare- 
well mes.sage to his family, the tears streaming down his cheeks 
the while. 



66 Zaxesville ix the Flood of 1913. 

sats' a family saatd. 

While awaiting- the hoats on Wednesday these men saw en- 
acted a drama full of the most tragic possibilities. It took place 
at the upper window of a house located Ijetween the B. & 0. tracks 
and the mouth of the Liekmg. Here a man and his Avife and child, 
facing death 1)y drowning in their room, were seeking to get out 
upon a piece of floatage and take chances of rescue down stream. 
For a long time they had vainly waited for the desired object when 
all at once a pile of lumljcr went right up to their window. This 
they fiuicldy hoarded and lol in a moment it swung round the 
corner of the house and carried its human freight out upon the 
surging bosom of the Licking, where rescue was effected a few 
minutes later, as will be seen. 

When Mr. Lee saw this dispensation of Providence he ex- 
pressed the belief that the elevator's occupants also would be 
saved, and the event did somewhat reassure his companions. 

AVeduesday was a never-to-be forgotten day to those men in 
the elevator. They saw countless houses, stables, cars, verandas, 
pianos go down stream, many of them striking the mill and the 
B. &: 0. and Y bridges. They saw the railro^fd bridge go down, 
span by span, and the Y disappear, and knew by the behavior 
of the wreckage that the concrete structure was still intact under - 
the swelling torrent. Indeed, page after page could be devoted to 
the extraordinary sights seen from those elevator windows, but 
we shall close the chapter Avith the story of a big bay horse and 
his notable struggle for life, as related by Mr. Lee. 

bay's fight for ufe. 
The bay first was seen swinuning with the current down. 
Linden aveime. On reaching the B. & 0. span at Linden he 
reared himself on it for a moment and shook the Avater from his 
head. Then he blew it from his nostrils with a great blast of defi- 
ance. Passing to the lower side he became entangled in a net-work 



Zaxesvilt^e ix THE Flood OF 1913. 57 

of wires. Freeing himself from these he wa.s borne out into the 
river. Under one of the Y-bridge arches he went, reappearing 
on the lower side, still swinnuing bravely, ^h-. Lee could not see 
the end of this thrilling battle for life. Init was later told that the 
bay"s head struck the C. ti: ^I. V. bridge, where he sank t<-. rise 
no more. The horse belonged to Dr. Simeon Kelly, of Linden 
avenue. 

Following is the list of the men who were saved from the 
Armstrong elevator: 

James H. Lee. Joseph Ball. Peter Ziusn:ieister. Harley 
Gallogly, Ernest Graham. Hollis :Munn. Earl Eiley. Henry Bixler, 
True Welsh. F. M. Winn. Lee Goeltz. 

]Mr. Armstrong's nan:e is not in this list because he left the 
party Tuesday evening to send boatn:en to the rescue. At Peters 
alley he stepped into water neck-deep. Then he went toward land 
by walking the Linden avenue levee. 

JOHXSOX AXD PATTERsOX. HEROES. 

AVhen that family of three were swept into the Licking on 
the board pile they were rushing toward what seemed to mean 
certain destructiim. for the Y-lu'idge was Imt a few hundred feet 
distant and they were due to be drawn through one of its arches 
and would have found it impossible to stick to their "float." 

' They were snatched from the .iaws of death 1)y J. B. Johnson. 
of the AVoodlawn Cem.etery working force, most of whose life has 
been spent on the river, and Vernon Patterson, formerly of the 
Buckeye Lake boating service. As Johnson describes the rescue 
it took place while he and Pattei'son Avere rowing across the Lick- 
ing from the old Seventh ward in the effort to rescue several men 
who had been calling for help from the top of the Linser building 
at the foot of Linden avenue. 

As the boatmen neared that quarter, the trio on the lumber 
were seen in the stream ahead, the man calling "Good-by," and 



58 Zaxesville ix the Flood of 1913. 

the woman on her knees in prayer. The rescuers overt«iok the 
lumber craft \Yhen it was about 25 feet from the Y-bridge and 
got the woman and her babe into their boat. The man jumped in. 
The oarsmen pulled for dear life. It was a desperate strugde 
against a tremendous current. For a brief time the fate of those 
heroic boatmen and their limp charges hung in the balance. 

Strength, sldll and courage won. The boat was pulled into 
an eddy to safety, with the dodging of many threatening pieces 
of floatage. Later, at the risk of their lives. Johnson and Patter- 
son returned to the Linser Ijuilding and with ropes rescued three 
men from its roof, 

CULBERTSOX FAZMILY HESCUED. 

"When the flood dro"\'e the AVm. 'SI. Bateman family from their 
Moxahala ave. hon:e they took refuge in the H. F. A<-hauer 
home, on Putnam ave. Xext door lived T^'m. S. Bell. On hear- 
ing that Dr. L. P. Culbertson. wife and child still were in their 
home at Moxahala ave. and Adams st, those three gentlemen 
urged the busy boatmen to get the trio to safety. It was three 
o'clock Wednesday afternoon before their appeals took root and 
then it was "Wm. Coulson, contracting paipter. and George H. 
Armstrong who so nobly responded. 

There was a very dangerous current do\^-n ^loxahala ave. 
and the problem was safely to cross it to the Culbertson home, 
get the family out of the second storV window and row Ijack 
across the avenue. Coulson and Annstrong crept up the west side 
of Moxahala and then shot their boat across to the Culbertson 
residence. Working their way to the rear they succeeded in 
getting the family into the boat. The heavily freighted craft was 
carried do^\^l to Jefferson street before the current could be re- 
crossed, when it was worked up stream to the Achauer home, 
where the rescued trio took refuge. Later, rising water compelled 
hosts and guests alike to leave in boats, in the midst of pressing 



Zaxesville IX THE Flood OF 1913. 59 

dangers, for still higher gri">und. This undoubtedly was one of tlie 
most daring and best nianaaed rescues made during the flood. It 
thrilled all who watched it. 

ED^'ARD GRIGSBY, JR., SAATS FOUR. 

Two boatmen tried to cross the exceedingly swift Linden 
avenue current while carrvin^- toward the land ^Ir. Thomas 




Picture shows only B &: O. bridge span that siood fas;. Two others lie on tlieir sides. 

practically uninjured. o'J feet below piers. Current carried antither to a resting 

place under V-bridge. B. S: O. bridge piers much damaged. Were rebuilt 

of concrete. See Elevator top on right, whence eleven millers 

were rescued. 

Fogarty and !Mrs. James, her son and daughter. The boat was 
capsized. It pinned 'Mv. Fogarty "s arm fast to a tree and held 
him there. Mrs. James held desperately to Fogarty "s coat, the 
son climbed on his Ijack. the daughter clutched a limb of the tree. 
Here they continued in inuuinent peril, the water ru.shmg 
arotmd and imder them, whik' cries for help went up. These were 



60 Zaxesvitxe IX the Flood of 1913. 

heard by Edward Grigsby, Jr., then doing- rescue work in Peters 
alley. Although l)ut a youth and having little Ix.ating experience, 
be resolutely rowed to the scene. So swift was the cun-ent that 
three times it carried him past the party of six. On the fourth 
trial he succeeded in reacliing the tree and getting the cjuartet into 
his boat. The other boat shot down stream. He had tahcn his life 
in his hand and had saved it with that of the others. • 

The boatmen theuiseives. having clung Xo a limb of the ti'ee, 
hung there until a second ix-scuer came and took them to safety. 

:mixi.stf:i! to the rescue. 

When Rev. John C. Ford, pastor r,f the Fair Oaks Baptist 
church, and John G. Allen, of the Ohio Electric line, learned that 
Samuel H. Miller, father of Wm. ^L ^^liller. of Dresden, a man 
82 years old and paralyzed on one side for 21 years, was marooned 
in liis home at 116 Jtjhnson St. with his daughter. INIrs. F. ^L 
Russell, and his housekeeper, ^liss :Mary Barclay, they went, at 
5 o'clock in the evening, in a boat, to their rescue. 

In taking the helpless :Mr. :Miller from the porch roof to the 
boat a seat broke and the boat was pushirtl away from the porch 
and all three men fell into 10 feet of water. :\Ir. Allen succeeded 
in getting his charge on the porch railing, while Rev. 'Mv. Ford 
swam for the Ijoat. The current was high and the skiff almost 
got away, but the minister clutched a sn:all tree, held to the boat, 
grasped a window frame and worked the craft to the porch again, 
when Mr. Miller was with great difficulty taken in and conveyed 
to high land. An unknown boatn^an assisted in this rescue. Ar- 
riving in the nick of time, he helped to recover the runaway boat. 

Mrs. Rus.sell and Miss Barclay were resciied later in the 
evening. 

WALKIXG the CAULES. 

City officials and relief-givers were sou'.ewhat dismayed on 
the morning of the 2Sth on learning that aliout 75 persons were in 



ZAXESVn.LE IX THK FluOI' OF 1913. 61 

upper rooms on lower Main, many nf them withnut food. When 
Fred Heintz and a man named DeVelvis learned this they volnn- 
teered to convey f<ii>d tn the hungry ones by walking the caljles 
stretched al.mg the north side of !Main and throwing eatables into 
the windows. This they did. making many trips. It Avas neces- 
•sary on Friday riiorning tn mount Xo the cables via the wood pole 
planted on the court house esplanade and to walk the wires all the 
way to First .street. As the water rei-eded they mounted further 
west. 

It was an inspiring xhiu-j; Xo see thi.ise l)rave men walk a lower 
cable while holding fast t<i a hiuher <>nf. their iMH-kets stuffed with 
edibles and their faces ten>e with signs (.f the effort required to 
keep footing on those slender ]iaths. 

Heintz carried in all 4(5 li">aves >A bread. IS pounds of meat 
rind coffee and milk to 40 persons. At one point he found a babe 
greatly needing milk. Here he threw the weinhted end of a wire 
across the sidewalk into the window. Rigging a bucket to the wire 
he raised his end of the strand and do\ni the incline went the 
bui:-ket. i)artly filled with milk. 

AFTER VfAXY HOURS. 

"When Harry Sheppard and Don C. Savage, of the govern- 
ment ■•fleet,"" learned on Friday evenina' of the flood that Adam 
Yaest. tai'get-man for the Pennsylvania Lines at ^laiu and Sec- 
cond streets, was still water-bomid on a car near that crossing tliey 
determined to get him off'. Adam had stuck to his tower tnuil 
wi'eckage knocked it down when he had .ium]X'd to the top of a 
passenger coach standing on the trae-k. attached to an engine. This 
was at three o "clock "Wednesday morning-. A tremendous current 
down Second street made it impossible for l)oatmen to rescue 
Adam on Thursday or early Friday. 

Sheppard and Savage knew that Yaest had 1)een without food 
during almost two days and had put in two nights of terror and 
peril. That seemed to Ije Adam's share, so those two courageous 



62 Zaxe-smixe IX the Flood of 1913. 

young men, with darkness fast approaching, took to theii" boat, 
pulled up stream against the mighty current, worked their way 
into Second street, skilfully rounding and using a telephone pole, 
and at length rowed as far as the engine, in the cab of which 
Adam had taken final refuge. 

Mr. Clvde Eeasoner was one of those who witnessed this feat 
from Putnam Hill. He describes it as being the best piece of 
boating work he ever saw. Certainly it puts Sheppard and 
Savage in the local hall of fame. 

LONG LIST OF XJFE-SA-^TES. 

Besides the rescues described in the foregoing there were 
hmidreds of the most startling character of which detailed ac- 
counts cannot be given in these pages. The following list is pre- 
sented on the basis of local newspaper mention made soon after 
the. flood, additional investigation having been found out of the 
question.' This newspaper roll of honor is one that Zanesville 
may well be proud of : 

* James Barrell and John Ki-onenbittcr did great rescue work 
in the old Seventh and Eighth wards. 

James Byers was put on the newspaper roll of honor. 
Henry Butler, of State and Keene, took many to safety in his 
boat. / 

Don Christy, a youth of 16, held a woman above water until 
help came. 

Cla}i:ou Cliffton, aged 13, of Moxahala avenue, mounted a 
horse and made the aninial s\vim two-and-a-half squares to land. 
Having made the horse safe Cliffton swam back to the house and 
remained with his mother until they escaped danger in a boat. 
Cliff Corbin, on the newspaper honor roll. 
C. Dover and Arthur Jasper rescued 27 on ^Vest Main TTed- 
nesdav night. 



ZaXBS\TLLE IX THE FlOOD OF 1913. 



63 



"Buck" Deviue jiuuped iu after Capt. Clias. TViltsliire of Co. 
A. -urhen he fell into the ^-ater on North Fifth street, and brought 
hiui to land. 

Polioe officer Frank Huey. "\Ym. C. Canning, manager of the 
Schultz Opera House. Theodore Cassidy. the newspaper man, 
Thomas Greiner and IJaymond Beach manned two boats Thurs- 
day afternoon and crossed from the central section to the Terrace, 




L ."'^•-^^ ■-!(, H ; -:-^^ ---:!; 1?-:"^.^ '''■;:/. 5-' f ^! 






': '• :^n-'-V-_ •^tl|?■\.:ST- 



Main at Second Street. Scene needs but a soldier or two to make it thoroughly typical. 
Passenger car is one Adam Veast landed on when his tower fell into the flood. 

the fii-st to make the perilous trip after "Wednesday. They took 
nine persons from the top of the B. it 0. round-house. Crossing the 
raging Lickmg, their boats were wagoned to Putnam and there 
they rescued a munber of residents, among them, at great risk to 
all concerned, the William TViles family of five. 

Michael Hess saved a ^Irs. Geis and her son and daughter 
from their roof on Wall street, near Licking and accomplished 
manv other thrillins; rescues. 



64 Zaxes\-ili.e ix the Flood of 1913. 

James Hook, of Hook Bros. & Aston, was everywhere witli 
his boat in the old .Seventh ward and rescued many. 

Young Reece Hi.Lihfield took nine persons out of their homes 
in the same section. 

Frank Herron and Leroy Talley were equally efficient res- 
cuers in that territory. 

Attoruev Stanlev Crew of the Terrace and Ferd Koska on 
one trip took 13 refugees to places of safety. This was but a small 
portion of their good work. 

H. Hardesty and AVilliam ^liles rescued over 100 fannlies 
along upper Linden. 

Paul Henry helped to rescue the Armstrong millers and was 
in other rescue work. 

H. D. Lukeus rescued over a dozen persons in Putnam. He 
was especially skilful in taking the "tots"' to safety. 

Russell Lynn saved several lives in the neighborhood of the 
W. '& L. E. station. 

John McXabb, gardener for Col. T. F. Spangler. rescued 
fully 2o persons during the worst of the flood, taking great risks in 
the swift currents of Putnam. He also took quantities of coal in 
his boat to a number of families. 

R. L. Miller, Putnam grocer, distinguished himself by savnig 
150 tube mill folks in lower Putnam. 

Charles McConaha and Burt AYyne accomplished heroic work 

in the Seventh ward. • • -n- i i 

AVm. :\Laxwell was an indefatigable rescuer in the Eighth. 
The Peach Bros., Putnanj, get credit for the rescue of 16 

persons. . 

S. R. Starner, of ^Vest Main street, rescued a number ot 
women and children at the risk of his own life. 

Police Officer George AV. Price worked day and night on the 
west side to save lives. 

Councilman Thomas Scott and Officer Nick Roach took many 
to safetv while the river raged across lower Main. 



ZA^-E.s^'ILLE IX THE Flood OF 1913. 65 

Eiisigu Slayton took his life iu Lis hands to warn lowland 
folic to flee from the flood. 

Carl Sehrieljer of the civil service connnission. nsed his boat 
incessantly in effecting rescue work in the Eighth ward. 

Frank Sonnners rescued dozens of Linden avenue refugees. 

Ray Steele. Seventh ward meat dealer, did heroic work on 
the west side and on lower !Main. 

C. L. Schultz and Earl Vernon received honoraljle mention 
in the newspaper rescue stories, as did Clyde Eoach and Everett 
Rhinehart. 

Russell AVilsi.n. of Putnam, aged IS, and crippled, took nearly 
100 to safety on flood "Wednesday. 

Emmett Wells, driver for B. E. ^liller, took several wagon 
loads of imperiled men and women out of their homes on lower 
Main. 

Capt. Henry Urban. 72. a Civil War veteran, rescued over a 
dozen j^ersons on Linden Ave. 

Councilman John E. Yates was exceedingly active in rescue 
work and accomplished great results. 

In this connection it is in order to say that Zanes^■ille should 
prepare for the next flood by having ready for use a number of 
.steel boats with water-tight compartments. 



TWO PANIC-BREEDING FIRES. 



Ai^preLensions never come singly in hours of eatastroi)Iie. 
Wednesday's rising tide had filled all minds with intense solici- 
tude as to the fate of flood-affected friends and relatives, and with 
the night came a new dread when the blackness of the unlighted 
town was illummated by flames issuing from the Adams Bros, 
plant, located at the Putnam end of the Third street bridge. 

Was fire about to reinforce Avater in an effort to destroy 
Zanesville ? This was the question men and women asked one an- 
other with blanched faces when those flames mounted skyward 
AVeduesday night. Putnam chiefly was concerned in the answer. 
The wind was blowing from the north. Water surrounded all the 
houses there, but the flames might spi'cad from roof to roof, even 
as far as the Tube mill, and burn all Putnam to the water's edge, 
for no fii'emen could reach the houses. 

The fire started wheu water slacked the lime in Adams Bros." 
plant. The establishment was constur.ed and so was the Whittaker 
residence on the east. How far destruction might have gone no 
one can tell, but it was stopped l\v William Lorrimer, the con- 
tractor, Benjamin Ziesloft, civil engineer, a 'Sir. Magnus, John 
Howard and his son, and Andrew Quinu. Avho were refugees in 
cars standing on the Pennsyh-ania tracks and who fonned a bucket 
brigade and by a tremendous exercise of speed and vigor pre- 
vented the flames from reaching the adjoining structure and pass- 
ing thence to the Shaw-Welty shirt factory and surrounding resi- 
dences. 

LOWET?-:*IAIX rtF.FUGEES THIIKATEXED. 

At 5 o'clock Thursday evening fire started in the old Burt 
mule barn, on the canal bank at Second street, when Weduesday 
night's panic was repeated in thousands of minds, for it was re- 



Zaxesville IX THE Flood OF 1913. 67 

ir.embered that the flood, then about at its crest, was ragiug down 
Second, Third and Mam streets, making it impossible for fii'e- 
fighters to reach the flames. 

The 75 or more persons who had ckmg to their homes on lower 
Main watched those flames with deep concern and only recovered 
from their terror on finding that the wind was lilowing toward the 
wide river, away from the business district. The fire consumed the 
Burt building and died out. 

Mr. Rufus C. Burton, president of the chamber of com- 
merce, publicly stated after the flood that c^uantities of dynamite 
wei-e made ready for use dming the mule-barn fire and that it was 
the intention to blow up buildings in the Irasiness district and 
thereby prevent a general east side conflagration had so drastic a 
course been found necessarv. 



X 
I 










From Fifth Street bridge. lookir.e -vvest. Houses on r:^;ht faced on Fourth Street. Some 
of them stood in 20 feet of water. Current here was dangerously swift. Flood- 
bound residents rescued with .tjreat difficulty. 



MULTIFAEIOUS FREAKS OF THE FLOOD. 



Nature as a flood-maker is quite as ironical as she is remorse- 
less and cruel. Perhaps this is her way of furnishing food for 
smiles when high water makes other food scarce. 

At any rate, the smiles came, in spite of gloomiest environ- 
ments, when stricken Zanesville, drawing a long breath as the 
water fell, began to see the pranks played by the flood. It would 
take a book to tell all those freak stories. Here are just a few of 
the multitudinous whole: 

The Interstate baseball park's ticket ofSce, bearing the sign, 
"Grand Stand, 50 cents: Bleachers, 25 cents," was floated and de- 
posited in front of Dr. E. C. Logsdon's residence, Linden avenue, 
five and a half blocks away. Dr. Logsdon is one of Zanesville *s 
most enthusiastic "fans." 

C. T\". Morrison's big stable and warehouse, Avith tons of hay 
in the mow, floated up Third street almost from Xorth street and 
became jammed between the Sturtevant Third street show win- 
dows and the AVeller opera house. It saved most of the Sturte- 
vant show windows from the floatage. 

A slate-roofed building located on AVest INIain. near Beau- 
mont, waltzed do\A-n W^est Main to the culvert over Chap's run 
and stood on its head. The flood demon put this same joke on 
substantially every structiu'e made top-hca^y by a slate roof that 
it moved to a location considered, apparently, more desirable. 

A passing rocking-chair linked its ann over a lineman's climb- 
ing spike on a telephone pole standing alongside the Roach 
Grocery site, X. Fourth street, and hung there, 15 feet from the 
ground. 

68 



Zaxesville IX THE Flood OF 1913. 69 

Near this spot a washing- niachiue brouglit up at the roof of 
a two-story house and rescued itself by straddling the comb and 
holdiuL' on. 

In the C. ct :sL V. yards a caboose loaded itself on one end 
of a coal car while a box car took possession of the other end. A 
crane could have done uo better. 













- .. ■ .'1 










/^ 



-J— I" _- 




•C. \V. Morrison's stable floated out Third from near North. Halted awhile at Rog?e Hotel 

until rise after noon of iTth carried it against awning of Sturtevant Dcpan- 

ment Store. It probably saved all that store's Third Street wind-.w5. 

Xote water line on Weller Opera House. A raging river ran 

past this point. 

In the Fifth street liridge district a box car tilled with cross- 
ties, violating all sense of proportion and taking a fling at the 
laws against cruelty to animals, deposited itself on a dray. 

TT. E. Tingle foiuid a washing-machine in the second story 
of his flood-battered home on ^Muskingum avenue, the first one 
that ever was in his house. One washing-machine was like a drop 



70 Zaxes\txle IX THE Flood of 1913. 

in the bucket in that house, which had stood in 18 feet of the 
muddiest of water for three days. 

Mrs. Adams carried an uncorked bottle of grape juice to the 
second floor of her Mclntire ave. home and set it on a table. On 
returning to the house after the flood she found the bottle on a 
lower step of the stairway, '"right side up, with care.'* contents 
intact. An Eighth ward housewife took a sitting of eggs to a 
corresponding place of safety and found the same on her stau'way 
when the water receded. Xot an egg was broken. 

A case of Dr. E. C. Logsdon's instnuncnts was swept otit of 
his Linden ave. office aci'oss lots to Jackson street and thence 
three blocks westward. It was deposited in the front yard of one 
of his i:>atients, wholly tniinjured. 

At the south end of the Pcmisylvauia Railroad bridge the 
rails left the ties, as the structure went dox^ii, and hung suspended 
from the- abutment, presenting a curved track as perfectly formed 
as if prepared in a shop. One of the most remarkalile freaks 
of the flood. 

When Mrs. G. E. Gebest returned to her South Fourth street 
home she found at her kitchen door a sign reading. "Fresh Fish 
and Oysters For Sale." 

At the Raymond Smith honie on South Sixth street, where a 
valuable piano was ruined by the water, another piano was foimd 
in the yard. A rather lame attempt to compensate. 

A live salmon was found in the basem.ent of the First National 
Bank when the water receded thcrcm. 

"When Mr. George Mcllwee entered his Main street millinery 
store after the flood he fomid an ear of corn, a pretzel and a 
shoe salesn:an's foot-rest on the floor. They had floated in through 
the broken show window. A characteristic piece of flood irony. 

When Mr. W. M. Adams left his Amelia street home Wednes- 
day an extension table was floating around in five feet of water, 
right side up. After the water left he found it on the floor, legs 
pointing to the ceiling. What turned that table over? 



SOME OLD LAXDMAEKS. 



The relations of many of Zanesville's old landmarks to the 
flood contribute a striking chapter to its history. Some stood fii'm 
against the mighty tide. Some were wholly and others partly 
imder water for the first time in theii- history. Some passed down 
stream never to be heard of more or to land on hillsides and fasten 
themselves there. Some were battered do^Mi bit by bit. Some 
collapsed after days of water-soaking. 

Third street bridge, over 65 years old. broke into three 
pieces. One or two of these Ijrought up on the Robert Finley farm 
12i/'o miles down stream. 

Gary furniture factory, located on Tow Path. Broke into 
several pieces. One of these also lauded on the Fiiiley farm. 

Old part of ]\Iuskiugum TToolen ^lill. Knocked several spans 
of the Sixth street bridge into the river on its career do\m stream. 

Wesley Search homestead. West ^lain and Pine. One of the 
oldest houses on that side. Swept do\^'n stream. 

Coffin factory, foot of Main. Many of its windows were 
broken. Building somewhat twisted. Has been repaired. 

The old Beaimiont homestead, near Hook Bros, mill, punc- 
tui'ed and battered. 

Pastime park, now Hissey Place ; rise of another foot would 
have covered its surface where ball diamond used to be. 

The old Putnam Seminary, now the Home for Aged Women. 
Several feet of water in basement. 

The old Putnam Cemetery. Moxahala Ave., stood in 6 feet of 
water. 

Old William Miner stables. X. 4th St.. of 'bus-line' fame, 
totally collapsed. Will be rebuilt by owners. The Zanesville 
Transfer Co. 

71 



72 



ZaXESVILLE IX THE FlOOD OF 1913. 



Old M. P, Chiu-eli, Beaumout St., walls battered down. 

And here are some that defied the flood and stood firm : The 
Dr. Horace Nye house, Musldngmn Ave., about 100 years old. 
Stood fast, and so did the little frames across the street on the 
river bank. 

Hook & Aston mill, at month of the Licking. Twenty feet of 




Main, below Second. Note damage done to merchandise, which went on the market in 

the open street in vast quantities soon after the flood, making lower Mam a 

Midwav. But mark the checrti'l laces, "amid the encircling gloom." 



water raged around it. The brick portion was destroyed but the 
frame stood fast. 

Annstrong (Drone) mill. Had S^o feet of water in thii-d 
story. Not only withstood prodigious shocks itself but warded off 
formidable objects which probably would ha^-e battered dov^-n the 
west span of the B. & 0. bridge. ^lill was doing business two weeks 
after the flood. 



SAYING UXCLE SAM"S CRAFT. 



Capt. B. F. MeGrath and his men. of the V. S. ''fleet," al 
anchor in the canal above the Sixth street bridge, labored inde- 
fatigably during the flood to keep ITucle Sam's craft from being 
washed down stream. The fleet consisted of the steamers VeGra 










"^- '^r 



-r. ?^^-. 






From Fifth Street bridge, looking east. Water near its highest. See drift against 

concrete bridge posts. A mild example of what came against those supports. 

They withstood tremendous thumping for days. Another proof that good 

concrete is a flood-defier. Old gas plant (see tower) in 10 feet 

of water 

and Merrill, the dredge Malta, two dump scows, two fuel barges, a 
derrick barge, a store boat and a quarter boat. These were lashed 
to each other and the larger craft were fastened to objects up in 
the town, one big cable being wound around a tree standins: at the 



74 



Zaxesville IX THE Flood OF 1913. 



comer of Fourtli aud South streets. Another cable (wire; SOO 
feet long, was made fast to the pivot pier of the Third street 
bridge. TMaen it is stated that 20 feet of water covered the Tow 
Path at Fourth street the nature of the task of keeping the fleet in- 
tact may be realized. 

Previous to the biu'ning of the Bm-t mule barn, the Standard 
Oil tanks, located at Se^-ond and ]\rarket sb'eets, had been upset 
by the flood and their contents had spread over the surface of the 
water. There was imminent danger that this oil would be set ou 
fire by floating masses of burning hay and straw as they left the 
Burt barn. Capt. ^IcGrath and his men did a striking pici-e of 
work to ward off this danger when they kept those burning masses 
pushed out into the stream as they floated downi. 



- 


/^ ^ 


.J 


'' -- .: 


, I -■ j- i 




r 




n ._ ' 


- .11 

i 


i ■ ■ .-- 


^^su:,^: .-.- 






"-- 


! 








! 


1 








" *"" ji 






_ . 




, .^, _.,.::_. ,.--^-.....^^ 



South Fifth Street. Main f.oor of post ofFiCC held two feet of water. Level of water 

seen (lower pool) two feet lower than level of water that crossed Main and 

ran down South Fifth. Between water works power house and Lock No.- 

10, the river's usual levels fall 15.7 feet. This the crest of the 

flood flattened out until there was a difference of but 

5.48 feet between the upper and lower pools. 



"NEVER SAY DIE. 



"When officials and relief comniitteenien reached the flooded 
districts as the water receded their hearts sank at the sight of the 
havoc wrought in lionies. The torrent not merely had swept 
houses down the river and off theii" foundations : torn off verandas : 



Putnam, from Wayne Avenue. Top of Eclipse Laundry and mansard roof of the Tingle 

home just visible. I; was feared that Mr. Tingle and family would be swept 

down stream with house. Boatman finally was employed who took them 

to land. 

soaked neatly j^apered walls, handsome draperies and valuable 
clothing; ruined costly pianos: broken mirrors; undermined 
chinmeys; opened the joint.-^ of furniture: warped floors and 
loosened plastering, but it had left upoii everything it touched a 



76 ZAXES^'ILLE IX THE Flood OF 1913. 

coating of mud wliicli made the calamity complete. This deposit 
was from 2 to 6 inches thick on the floors and lawns. 

But when the victims of such havoc were seen cleaning the 
mud from their homes and trying to save some of their posses- 
sions out of the wreck, a work begun often before the water had 
left the floors, the onlooker's mind was divided between pity and 
admiration. 

Many a pile of sand was left on Zanesville lots and streets by 
the flood, but none of those had the grit sho^^■n by the average 
^•ictim. Xo one who saw these efforts to conquer the aftermath 
can ever forget the dauntless spirit which put every able-bodied 
member of stricken families behind the broom, the shovel or the 
hose. 

And the women-folk were no less dauntless than the men. In- 
deed, in hundreds of cases they made men of themselves by don- 
ning trousers and rubber boots, the better to make war on the foes 
brought by the flood. Fortunately the weather was for the most 
part favorable for such work. 

BACK TO THEIPi HOIMES. 

As the water receded citizens began to ask one another, ''What 
proportion of the flood-victims will return to their homes?" 

On April 28 Mr. J. Hope Sutor, who had been appointed 
special investigator of flood damages in the old 8th and lOth 
wards, answered this question for that section by stating that 
whereas 1055 dwelling had been in water there, 85% of them were 
in service again; that of the 1055 affected dAvellings 150 were 
vacant or so seriously damaged as to be.^nly nominally habitable 
and that it would cost $50,000 to repair these. His admirable re- 
port was very complete. 

Figui-es along these lines from other flooded districts are not 
available, but doubtless to Zauesville's optimists they would prove 
stm more encouraging than are Mr. Sutor's, were they obtainable. 



Zaxesvelle IX THE Flood OF 1913. 



77 



THE PUTXAM LOSSES. 

Late in May Mr. George W. Hivuor. inspector of flood damage 
for the Putnam district, reported the total loss there to have been 
$759,445. This was classified as follows: Real estate. $168,820; 
household goods, $275,825; merchandise and fixtures. $69,550; 
manufacturers' material and equipment, $237,650. and church and 
school loss $7,600. There were 280 pianos destroyed. 




Shows liberiies taken v.ith Herdnian lumber plant. Xorth Fourth Street. Xote destruc- 
tion beyond. One of the worst of the tlood-torn spots. Few of the houses 
here were habitable two months after the flood. The Roach grocery 
buiiding and others were swept away. But for bridge posts all 
might have gone. 



PIAXO AXD LIBRARY LOSSES ENORMOUS. 



"When Safety Director George T. Orr appointed !Mr. A. W. 
Evans to ascertain the losses sustained in the flood, Mr. Evans 
l^repared a working sfliedule which was carefully followed by his 
assistants in the five flooded sections of the citv and which enabled 




Canal span. Sixth Street bridge, caught biggest mass of floatage left by flood. Wharf- 
boat on top of drift came from foot of Fifth Street. Two-story boathouse located 
on Towpath just below bridge floated down the river. Two river spans 
of bridcre were carried 300 feet down stream. 



them to secure accurate detailed information. In that schedule 
ascertainment of the piano losses was a feature, and when the 
results were checked it was found that 695 pianos, valued at $200 
each: 2S jDiauolas, valued at SoOO each; and 86 organs, valued 



Zaxksville IX THE Flood OF 1913. 79 

at $50 each, bad bc-en destroyed in the flood, the total loss amount- 
ing to .*157.300. 

Few flood sights were more pathetic than those presented by 
these ruined' instruments. With joints sprung, glossy finish 
dauljed with mud, keyboards packed with the same sticky sub- 
stance and warped by the Avater. these thhigs of beauty were sad 
reminders of the vain efforts made at the eleventh hour in hun- 
di-eds of homes to have them elevated or transported to higher 
levels. 

General R. B. Brown, seci'etary of the chamber of connnerce. 
connnenting on the fact that :Mr. J. T. :\Iiller. of the Munson Music 
Co., had placed an estimate on the number of flood-ruined pianos 
considerably exceeding that of Mr. Evans's committee, makes the 
point that on the basis of either estimate Zanesville is .sho\vn to be 
a city of genume culture. The point is well taken and may well 
be applied in the case also of the city's 

FLOOD-SOAKED LIBEAIIIES. 

of whii-h there were a large mnnlier. Col. T. F. Spangler. who 
himself L'lSt som.ething like 1000 volumes when the water ruined 
them in his "\Voodla\Mi avenue home, and som.e of whose books 
were out of print and never can he replaced, was unable to esti- 
mate the t<:>tal loss, when asked to do so. Putnam suffered most 
heavily in this particular. The water rose too rapidly there to 
admit of liook-saving on a large scale. Hundreds of vokunes that 
were carried to second floors were flooded even there. 



RETURNING TO THE NORMAL. 



The first distribution of mail in tlie business district of the 
city, after the flood, occurred oii Monday, March 31. 

Natural gas service Avas resmned on Tuesday. April 1. 

Street car service between the main section and the Terrace 
and Brighton ^vas resmned Apiil 5. It was necessary at fii-st to 
ti-ansfer passengers across the T-bridge. On the 15th the city 
line began to operate cars the length of Putnam. All city lines 
were in operation by April 25. 

A mmiber of the schools were reopened April 14. Others not 
until the 21st. The Moore and Jackson buildings, old 8th ward, 
are to be abandoned. They stood in 20 feet of water. 

The first through passenger train after the flood went over 
the B. & O.'s temporary bridge on April 14. 

Electric lights shone again, all over the city, April 14. 

The "suspension" foot walk attached to the Third street piers 
was fii'st used Ajiril 23. 

Navigation was resmned on the river between Zanesville and 
McConnelsville April 24. 

Flood-destruction on this stretch of the river had been rela- 
tively greater than in Zanesville. 

The Pennsylvania railroad's temporary bridge was com- 
pleted ^lay 7. 



80 



LOST THE SEXSE OF TIME AND PLACE. 



"When Coinmodoie Buebaiian was asked on what day one of 
the Seventh ward events occurred, he replied. "'I can't remeniljer. 
It ^vas all like one long day to me.'" This expressed a common 
flood experience. During Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of 




> ■/■■■ . 



At. ^ 







North Fifth Street. Shows havoc wrought above Fifth Street bridge, where torrent 

almost 20 feet deep made rescue work perilous and destroyed household goods 

on second floors. Most of these houses were uninhabited as late as Mav 1.5. 



flood week men and women frequently asked one another ''What 
day is this?" so wholly had they lost the sense of time. 

There was a similar lapse in the minds of many who visited 
the most stricken spots when, on the spur of the moment, it came 
to locating the same. The sense of place had been deadened by 

81 



82 



ZA^•ES^■uxE ix the Flood of 1913. 



signs of the awful destruction and alteration. "Wliere am I?" 
frequently was the unspoken question when the citizen looked 
around in the districts near the city approach to the Fifth street 
bridge; along Linden ave. and Lee streets; at the west end of the 
Y-bridge; in Putnam at the foot of Jefferson and ^ladison and on 
lower !Main. 



.^. 













South Street, west of Sixth. Invested inoftly by backwater, but at weft end a heavy 

sufferer from current which r?.ged down Third. From here, at 3 a. m. on the 

26th. citizens were still crossing Third Street bridge. Eiy evening, over 

10 feet of water ran wild across the street. 



SCOIE 0001) OLD FRIENDS. 



It ^vas indeed s^urjtrisinL; h'> observe the eahii couracie of the 
people duriiiL:' the cnfoivcd n-turii to primitive conditions. When 
the .sui'ply of water was shut <itt at tlie water worlds, men and 
Avonieu aeou.stonied to all of the modern conveniences very cheer- 
fully carried their pails in the springs for water, and to illustrate 
the economy which may l)e practiced when necessity requires it. 
fancy if yoti can. a man beiuGf content Avith a glass of water as his 
portion for a .shave and the other requirements of a morning toilet. 

And when the flood quenched the boiler fires in the electric 
light plant, and the lireaks in the mains shut off the .supply of 
natural gas. the old time tallnw candles, with improvised holders 
consisting mainly of bottles, played an important part in lighting 
up and making- cheerful the dark and cb-eary surroundings of 
the home. 

Old lamps, some of them works of art. many of them family 
heirlooms which had lieeu -tored away f^r years and probably 
forgotten, were dusted oft' and introduced into the family circle. 
Their presence stirred the memories of tender and affectionate 
sentiments or lirought back tlie ghosts rif days more full of dark- 
ness, fear and distress than those of the flood which made their 
iise necessary. 

Along the streets and highways, those who were oliliged or 
permitted to lie out at night, caii'ied lanterns swinging carelessly 
to and fro with the movem.ents of the body, and from a distance 
these resembled an assembly of fire-flies in a dark forest. When 
the gas fires were extinuui.-^hcd fr<:>m the family ovens and stoves. 
the full n:eaning of the old adage. '']Misei-y loves company.'" was 
fully realized. It was then that the fortunate possessor of a coal 
stove had the .satisfaction, if ni>t the ijleasu.re. of permitting- her 



84 Zaxesville ix the Flood of 1913. 

hauglity neigiibor, wlio theretofore would not have acknowledged 
any social relations, to use it, but who was now thankful to pre- 
pare the family meal in the humble kitchen. It was a moment 
that tested the initiative and resourcefulness of all the people, and 
the expedients that were resorted to were as pathetic in srmie in- 
stances as they were humorous in others. 

As a further trial of the courage and patience of a conniiunity 
sorely burdened the surface ears suspended and for six days or 
more, pedestrianism, almost a lost art in these days of comfortable 
and even luxurious means of travel, was temporarily resumed. 
Distances which many would have been very loath to walk befoi-e 
the flood were covered on foot with an ease and agility, even with a 
delightful pleasure, that would have excited not only the admira- 
tion but the envy of a Swiss Alpine climber. 



f f % 






1 O '■ 



Top of Y. Shows what concreie uili withitand, as doe; the Licking levee, which also 

defied the Rood. Although the object of a fierce attack by water and heavy 

floatage, the Y was merely defaced. Even the piers remained uninjured. 

Note lamp-post and pedestal. Four of these were beaten down. 



VIGILANT OFFICIALS AXD ORGANIZATIOXS. 



PUBLIC HEALTH GOOD. 

Dr. G. W. McCormiek, at the liead of the local board of health 
and Dr. J. R. McDowell, superintendent of the hos^jital corps 
while state troops were on dutv. performed their diuies so vig- 






■-,i^. 







^ 



Ruin? of Munson Music Store, 3rd and Main. Currei'.t cut under foundation. Par: 

cf building fell into water at about noon on the 2Tth : second part a little later. 

Thirty-five pianos dropped into flood : were swept away. Collapse caused 

profound anxiety, but no others like it occurred on lower Main Street. 

ilantly and vigurouslv that public health remained normal, in spite 
of thi'eateuiug flood conditions. 

Dr. ^McCormiek continued his tireless services to this end for 
weeks after the flood, taking especial pains to promote the clean- 



86 Zax]-,svii.ij; ]x thi: Fj.ouh of 1913. 

ing up of tilt' city. -That tlie i)ublic liealth is normal as this volume 
goes to ])ress is ample proof of tbe health board's valual)le service. 
The fear of au epidemic had seized upon many during the flood. 

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE FLOOD. 

The officers of this o]-ganization took jirduipt action on "Wed- 
nesday morning. !March 2fi. by posting a bulk-tin pledging it to the 
securing of funds for relief work, by starting that fund and by 
phmging into relief work themselves. 

President R. C. Burton inni;ediately set his own teams to 
work in transiioi'thig su]>idi('s. and his aide assistants continued 
their rescues on the water, besides distributing blankets to the 
refugees. 

When his relief wo]-k could be giA-en over to other hands. 
President Burto-n and the directors took up with chai'acteristic 
vigor measures calculated to fortify Zanesville against the mer- 
cantile and industrial losses which it was feared might follow the 
jjaralyzing effects of the flood. 

Early in ^May Col. Wm. A. Wilson succeeded Rufus C Burton 
as pi-esident of the chamber of conunei-ce and Gend. R. B. Brown 
succeeded H. Serkowich as its secretary, when the measures 
referred to were pushed with marked energy. As this little book 
goes to press it appears pr()l)alde that Zanesville will suffer no 
material industrial loss as a result of the flood. At the time men- 
tioned bfit one factory, the Gaiw furniture plant, had been located 
in another town. All the others, save the B.tt 0. shops, were at 
work again. The activities of the chamber of conunerce were 
given added force inider its new officials by reason of a remarkable 
accession of new members, Avhich came as proof of Zanesville *s 
determination to forge ahead. 

On May 16 President "Wilson appointed Connnodore W. W. 
Buchanan. E. P. Meyer and W. W. Harper members of an ad- 
Adsory coumdssinn to work with 'Mr. Rali>h I). ^lershon, an emi- 
nent engiueci- of New York Citv, along lines looking toward the 



Zaxf.sville IX THK Flooi> OF 1013. 87 

iuiprowiuont <>£ the city a<;i:-Mrdiny Xn modern and scientific 
methods. This was another im|>iii-tant step in the direction of 
Greater Zanesville. 

FAITHFUF I'OLKE OFFKF.IIs. 

The de))artment ><( }pnhlii: safety an-umiilished remai-kahle 
thing's. l)eiiimin,u- Tuesday aftern.M.n. INfarrh 2'). in wai-ninu' the 
lieedles.s. resc-ning the flood-lxinnd. feedinu the lumgry. saving- 
property and presei-vino.- order. 

Chief i>f Polii-e John Arter and Lieutenant Joseph D. Petet 
took tlie k-ad. workinc^' im-essantl}". niaht and day. while every 
otficer on the foree fell inti;> line. Xri danger was too threatening 
for these men. no laltor too exai-ting. Tliey lost sleep, they went 
hungry: and still they kept on. manning the rescue boats and 
taking peiiple to safety nutil all that man could do nnder such 
cii'ciunstances had been done. 



EOYAL FRIENDS IN TIME OF NEED. 

riTTsBrr.G axd a. c. gumbert. 

The story of the flood would lack a iiieniorable feature if it 
did not contain the facts showing how Pittsburg and her dis- 
tinguished son, A. C. Gumbert. of her public charities departmeiit, 
came to Zanesville's aid in her time of need. 





















-:.S : -:-' 


'•■ - -- "■ ... .'; ■ TV^ V 


'^iyj;/| 




/■■^ 








-'".■■'".' '-^ ' Vv 


"a -' *> ■*'"' -^ '' 




■■ ' 




-" -:'. 


-.;;3^-. 


■- -' ^'- ■'"^'' . - ■^^■ 


-\- "' '~'^--:-; 




: ■;• 


















- -V 


'■ - •'-. "'' ■;- 


--'■ -^ " ' ..^> : ."--^ o^ 


-- -.^.i- r"^- > • "*^ * - 7" 


- r-— ":• 


■'! 




^: . 




i'" " ""-- "."^-i ■■' . •■'^ ~', ' 


- ^■■—_ i . _ ~y -'^ 


. _.,. -_ 


""^1 


-■■-• 


.::":; 








'^ 








^^.-... 


' ;■ "i. ^j . "J; 


S' -■-"' " -^^ 


•^> " 


.4 
























.y^::^y==i€ 




...J 



Muskingum .Avenue below Jefferson. Remain; of W'eidig foundry and stock. Striking 
evidence of current's force. Here the Eclipse Laundry ton left) was partly 
destroyed, the Curtis Lumber Plant was wrecked aiid a number of resi- 
dences were swept away. 

Mr. Gumbert had played professional baseball in Zanesville 
years ago. when lie was a most popular athlete. He never forgot 
the friends he made here nor the town. And when he learned 
what the flood had done lie told Pittsburg that her people might 



Zaxesville IX THE Flood OF 1913. 89 

properly open their hearts and pui-ses. Xot satisfied with that, 
he came over to Zauesville, sized up the situation, informed Pitts- 
biu'g that the half had not been told, and then Pittsburg added 
more carloads of beds, bedding and provisions to those already 
sent. This was kept up without stint for weeks. The total nmnber 
of these carloads amounted to IS and their value has been estimated 
at -?18,000. 

Mr. Gmnbert spent many days in Zauesville. assisting in the 
work of relief. 

;Mr. "\V. H. Stevensou. president of the Pittsburg chamber of 
conmierce and Gen'l. Albert J. Logan, chairman of that body's 
conmiittee on .supplies, also visited Zauesville to investigate the 
situation. Their reitorts and efforts brought in heavy contribu- 
tions. 

EDITOR srEXCF.R AXD XEWARK. 

In the county seat of Lickiug. Zauesville found aunther great 
and good friend. Mr. C. H. Spencer, editor of the Xewark Ad- 
vocate. 

Mr. Spencer came to Zanes^ille early in the campaign of re- 
lief and again several times later, where he learned at fii'st hand 
the inmiensity of the p]-oblem facing the local committee and the 
demand for prompt and generous giving. Then he told his readers 
all about that problem and Xewark responded without stint diu"- 
iug many weeks, her contributions being estimated as follows, up 
to the time this stoiy went to press : 

Provisions and furniture, al:)Out 4 carloads, valued at $1000. 

OTHER XEARBY TOWXS. 

It would be a graceful act to name in detail the donations re- 
ceived from other towiis and cities rotmdabout. Zauesville ever 
will be grateful to one and all. The records available do not all 
name those towns. It is enough to say that every town, city 
and village in this section responded generously, while scores at a 
distance, some in other states, did relatively as well. 



90 Za^TSVILLE IX THE i'LOOD OF 1913. 

When Rev. I. ilcK. Pittenger, foiiiier rector of St. James 
parish. Zauesville. read m the newspapers the story of her 1913 
flood renienihermy: rlie many happy years he had spent here, he 
aroused the s\"uipathy of his i)resent parishioners in Raleiirh. X. C, 
and soon he was in Zanesville. bearin;i their handsome cash offer- 
ing in behalf of those of his fonner Zanesville parishioners wlio 
had suffered in her flood. This is a t\-pieal instanoe of what pains 
and expense former Zanesville residents took to render aid after 
the flood. 

S03IK RELIEF TOTALS. 

On ^lay 13. Red Cross Agent, I. "Wesley Ellenberger, gave 
out the following estimates on the totals of merchandise and cash, 
received by the central relief organization during and after the 
flood: 

Carloads from all sources. 60 : value. 660.000. 

Broken shipments, value •■?15.000. 

Red Cross and Ohio Flood Conmiission cash donations, 
$40,100. 

It is estimated that the fimcLs from this source will ultimately 
reach a grand total of -i'lOO.OOO. 

Other cash donations. $40,000. 

RED CROSS 0FFICTAI5 CAifE. 

This organization Ijccame very active when its officials ascer- 
tained the city's needs. Xational Director Ernest P. Bicknell 
and his assistant Red Cross field workers, came to Zanesville and 
associated Red Cross methods with the work of relief. Their ef- 
forts were of great value. 

When on ^May 12 a Red Cross-Ohio Flood Conniiission dona- 
tion of $-2.3,00O in cash was allotted to Zanes^alle it was announced 
that said sum would be used to repair the flooded homes whose 
o^-ners could not afford to make repairs themselves and it was 
stated that more cash would be forthcoming for the same purpose 
should it be needed. 



A WORD OX FLOOD-PREVENTIOX. 



A disciLSsiou, from the Zanesville point of view, of flood pre- 
rentiou comes last. It will be brief. When experts differ so 
radically on this question^ when the confusion of professional 
tono^ies is so great, how shall the mere la^Tuau decide ? 




Dberon Avenne. looking west. Public library on left. Basement full of water. Rise 

of 2 f;.'€t would have covered main floor. Between this point and Gant Park 

river was appro.ximately one and one-half miles wide. 



The chamiel of the iluskingmn river between the top of the 
canal bank and the hillside below Dug Road was not merely fiili to 
the brim in the flood of 1913, but enough water overlay the top 
of that channel and took its coui-se outside of it. i. e., through the 
streets of ZanesviUe's "peninsula," to have filled another cavity 

91 



92 Zanesvuj.e ix the Flood of 1913. 

of equal capacity. InJoed, the total volume Ava? lOli/o per ceut 
greater than the chaniiers capacity, as shown by calculations made 
by Dr. C. A\ Martin, the well-kno\Yn mining engineer. 

What measures can be taken to prevent so vast an overflow 
of natiiral channels? The ])urden of prevention rests upon the 
nation and the state. In the month of May, 1913, Governor James 
M. Cox, of Ohio, conferred on flood questions with President 
Woodrow Wilson at "Washington, after which the governor inti- 
mated his belief that flood-pi-evention in the Ohio valley must 
come largely through the impounding- of flood waters at the sources 
of its chief rivers. 

But on May 19 a report Avas submitted by the commission of 
U. S. army engineers which had iDcen directed by Secretary of 
War Garrison fo examine into the late flood, in which its memliers 
indicated their belief that the ]n"oblem in Ohio would be solved by 
clearing river channels and sti'engthening levees rather than by 
the construction of headwater reservoirs. 

According to the governor the state and nation would he in- 
clined so to manipulate the licking, Walhonding and Tuscarawas 
headwaters, in comiection Avith unprecedented rains and fast- 
melting snows, as to prevent the dischai'ge through Zanesville's 
narrow channel of a volume of water so excessive as to damage 
millions of dollars worth of property here. But the T. S. en- 
gineers seem to oppose this, which shows how the doctors differ 
and how hard, consequently, ZanesAille and her co-sufferers must 
work to secu]-e relief. 

It is certain, however, that many excellent judges agree with 
Governor Cox in the belief that flood-prevention may well begin at 
the flood sources. It has been calculated that 15 reservoirs located 
at the Muskingum's headwaters would have saved Zanesvillc and 
the vallev below from their 1913 losses. 



Zaxes\'Ille IX THi: Flood of 1913. 93 

NEWSPAPERS AXD THE FLOOD. 

The Sig:nal suffered most. The Second street torrent injured 
its office and stock lieavily and submerged a part of its big press 
for days. Tlie paper could not be printed in its own plant for 
four weeks. From April otli to 22nd it was printed at The Times 
Recorder office. 



\ 



VQ 













Drake Lumber Compiny'5 large, heavily weighted warehov.se was swept into Lee Street. 

Xothiiig could more torcibly show the vt!-jcity 01' tiie current which poured 

down Peters Alley. Part 01 same tcren: surged westw.-.rd and played 

havoc on Lee Street. 

The Courier's publication was suspended for the next longest 
period. With two feet of water in the press room the last issue 
dm'ing the flood left the press on April 26th. It was a week be- 
fore iniblication could be resumed. 

The Times Recorder went to press with criluums of graphic 
and portentious flood news on the morning of the 2Gth. when a 
failure of natural gas put the plant ojit of commi.ssion. But while 



94 Zaxesville in the Flood of 1913. 

no i^aper was issued until the following ^^londay the niaiiagenient 
daily posted scores of flood bulletins on Main street store windows. 
The Sunday Xews. located a Idock higher up town, was least 
troubled by the flood, and on .Saturday, the 29th. a weelc-day edi- 
tion was printed containing a voluminous and highly interesting 
story of the flood which was eagerly read. 

flooded stations. 

Three of Zanesville's passenger stations were better condi- 
tioned for gondola than for train service during the flood, the 
Baltimore & Ohio structure standing in 13 feet of water, the 
Zanesville & '^V^.'Stern in 12 feet and the Pennsylvania in 15 feet. 
The Wheeling and Lake Erie station was swept down the river. 
Only the Putnam station remained dry. and the water came within 
about 25 feet of it. 



1 fi 







.'T / 



























c-^-* »: 















cy '^^ 






." ,r 




"k. .^^ /. 






















vv .. 4» * A ^ <v ^ ••" A «> ' C9 , , 't' A 











